Thursday, January 19, 2006

Last Train From Clarksville, Indiana

Raising awareness about how unions hurt Kentucky got a boost last month when Colgate-Palmolive Co. announced they were closing their Clarksville, Indiana plant. Indiana's lack of a Right To Work law was said to be a factor then, and that was confirmed yesterday when Colgate leap-frogged over Kentucky and announced a move to RTW-state Tennessee.

Big Unions complain cost-cutting moves that limit bloated union wages are bad for America. The opposite is clearly true. As manufacturing jobs move to Mexico and China, employers who want to stay in this country can't compete in the marketplace while continuing to pay for union lobbying overhead.

The 220 jobs headed to Morristown, Tennessee would have come in handy in many places in Kentucky. A simple change to the law this year could make us more competitive next year.