NYTimes Eyes Morristown, Immigrants, and The Economy

Caught in the endless down-spin of the economic spiral, Morristown and Hamblen county has seen many a factory close up and move south of the border in the last ten years, even as residents from south of the border have come in record numbers to this small southern community seeking work.

On Saturday, the NYTimes told some of the tales from this economic battlefield in a story titled "A Slippery Place In The U.S. Workforce".

Slippery, indeed.

Factory wages have always been lower here than many places, and millions and millions in state and federal grants have been spent here to attract more and more factories. Most recently, stats show the unemployment rate is above 15%.

Too bad we see so little effort given to creating a local economy built on something besides the ever-shifting tides of companies on the hunt for lowest paid workers they can find.

SEE ALSO: The Crone Speaks has links to the NYTimes video report on this story and adds some timely wisdom to this story:

"These real live people highlight not only how the recession has hit all of the residents in Morristown, TN, it also makes a statement on the right-to-work employment structure of the state. Right-to-work is a misnomer for employers exploiting workers, and something that Sen. Corker truly supports , as we saw in his lambasting of the US auto industry. And, why not support the exploitation of workers? Afterall, that is how he made his millions.

As the nation sets about trying to dig out of the recession, states like Tennessee will have to take a good long look at getting rid of the right-to-work structure, which has only benefited the elite in this state."