Outsourcing

In a sleek new office building, two dozen young Indians are studying the customs of a place none of them has ever seen. One by one, the students present their conclusions about this fabled land. "Americans eat a lot of junk food. Table manners are very casual," says Ritu Khanna. "People are quite self-centered. The average American has 13 credit cards," says Nerissa Dcosta. "Seventy-six percent of the people mistrust the government.

American Airlines will cut 1,200 airport baggage and cargo jobs and close an Arizona reservations center under a bankruptcy restructuring plan to trim annual labor spending by $1.25 billion. All the carrier's jobs at airports in Ontario, six other U.S. cities and two cities in Canada will be outsourced. AMR Corp.'s American detailed changes for nonunion workers 11 weeks after telling other workers it would do away with 13,000 of their jobs, freeze pensions and make work-rule and benefit changes.

Another slice of Americana is being outsourced to China. Radio Flyer Inc. will stop making its famous red metal wagons in Chicago by the fall, halting its final manufacturing operation and releasing nearly half of its 90 employees. Although Radio Flyer has resisted this move, the 87-year-old company finally succumbed to low-cost production overseas after determining its Chicago plant was too expensive to maintain. The company, however, does not plan to move its headquarters or distribution arm.

Los Angeles' top budget official raised the specter of bankruptcy Friday in a sweeping report that calls for new taxes, possible layoffs and the privatization of some city services. Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said rising employee costs combined with flat-lining revenues have left the city in a precarious position. Even after reducing its workforce by 4,900 positions in recent years, the city faces a $222-million budget shortfall, he said, a figure that is expected to rise to $427 million by 2014-15.

Vice President Joe Biden contrasted the Obama administration's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing with what he said was Mitt Romney's track record of outsourcing, both in business and as governor of Massachusetts. Biden tailored his latest campaign pitch to a heartland audience, telling a crowd at a Davenport, Iowa, engineering plant that the Obama policies have not only revived American manufacturing, but spurred ancillary growth in the communities around those production hubs.

Re "Spy Agencies Outsourcing to Fill Key Jobs," Sept. 17 The article about U.S. spy agencies outsourcing jobs to private contractors fails to mention the worst problem with this practice: These contractors are immune from the regulation and oversight that prevent our government employees from committing horrible human rights abuses. They are free to kidnap or torture anyone they want. The brilliant minds in the Bush administration have created a private Gestapo of rogue agents, mercenaries and hit men whose allegiance is not to the United States but to the U.S. dollar.

Here's another idea regarding "Too Rosy a View on Exporting U.S. Jobs," (Letters, March 14) in response to James Flanigan's " 'Offshoring' Can Create Jobs, Too" (Feb. 29): By "outsourcing" chief executives' jobs, productive American workers could remain "insourced." Alternatively, CEOs could simply move to a country like India where the dollar goes a lot further. When are American CEOs going to start thinking out of the box? David Perlman Laguna Beach

Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed a law that may have made Tennessee the first state to give businesses an incentive for not outsourcing data-entry and call-center work to cheaper offshore locales. The new law asks state procurement officials to give preference in bids for such services to contractors employing workers only in the United States. It was approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers last month and signed into law last week.

I hope that other American companies will realize that outsourcing of American jobs is just bad business ("Overseas Outsourcing Trend Is Seen Persisting," Dec. 28). We need to keep jobs in this country. Far too many American companies have shipped out jobs, resulting in inferior customer service for their American customers. I have frequently expressed my concerns to American Express and America Online that their company name is American Express, not Indian Express, and America Online is not India Online.

Re "Bush Supports Shift of Jobs Overseas," Feb. 10: President Bush is out of touch with the American public in his support of the shift of jobs overseas. Most Americans are more concerned about their job futures than being able to purchase cheap goods. Workers in the U.S. who are displaced by overseas outsourcing can have a negative effect on the overall economy. It is not "fair trade" when decades of U.S. labor laws are circumvented by employees in Third World countries working at a fraction of American salaries.

Vice President Joe Biden contrasted the Obama administration's efforts to boost domestic manufacturing with what he said was Mitt Romney's track record of outsourcing, both in business and as governor of Massachusetts. Biden tailored his latest campaign pitch to a heartland audience, telling a crowd at a Davenport, Iowa, engineering plant that the Obama policies have not only revived American manufacturing, but spurred ancillary growth in the communities around those production hubs.

Real estate services provider CBRE Group Inc. reported a robust fourth quarter as property sales increased and the company expanded its asset management business. The Los Angeles firm formerly known as CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. earns commissions from arranging transactions to buy or rent space in offices, warehouses and other commercial properties. Property sales revenue rose 10% compared with the fourth quarter of 2010, powered by a growing number of deals in the United States and Asia, while sales in Europe remained flat, the company said Tuesday.

Without ever mentioning Mitt Romney by name, President Obama on Wednesday introduced a theme he's certain to use often against the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination: that he helped send American jobs overseas during his corporate career. In a White House seminar on creating domestic jobs, Obama praised corporate executives who have expanded their workforces in the United States. The president also proposed tax code changes to encourage such decisions. “That's exactly the kind of commitment to country that we need, especially right now,” Obama said.

The Orange County city that received national attention when it moved toward laying off up to half its workforce and outsourcing municipal services to private contractors in order to trim its future pension cost is finishing the year $3.8 million in the black. Officials in Costa Mesa, who had projected a $1.4-million deficit, credited better-than-expected sales taxes and cuts to city staff and municipal programs for the improved numbers. "We're not in the critical period, but we're still in the hospital," Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer said.

Automaker BMW and the Teamsters union have tentatively agreed to extend the current labor contract at the Ontario parts distribution warehouse for six months as they work on a long-term agreement. The contracts for 68 workers were set to expire at the end of August, and the German automaker had planned to turn over operation of the facility to a third-party logistics firm. "We had a good discussion with the Teamsters, and we intend to extend the contract for six months to provide the time to address the substantive issues facing both of our organizations," said BMW Group spokesman Kenn Sparks.

Barred by the courts from slashing its payroll by outsourcing city jobs to private companies, Costa Mesa is now exploring forming partnerships with neighboring cities to share municipal services. City officials said they are looking into sharing such things as police SWAT teams, emergency dispatch operations and animal control. Costa Mesa has become a flash point in California in the debate over government finances for its plan to reduce expenses and pension costs by cutting more than 200 workers, a drastic proposal that has caught the attention of political and labor interests throughout the state.

As the alleged scourge of American journalism, James Macpherson cuts a rather disappointing figure. In a crisp blue blazer, with slicked-back gray hair, the onetime garment manufacturer looks like a prep school headmaster. He speaks with the polite self-control of PBS' Jim Lehrer. Macpherson drew headlines and hate mail last year when it was revealed that his Pasadena Now website intended to report the news from Pasadena using writers in Mumbai and Bangalore, India.

Costa Mesa cannot lay off employees by outsourcing their jobs to private companies until the city goes through proper legal steps, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. In a preliminary injunction barring the city from implementing its outsourcing plans, Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann said Costa Mesa must follow necessary steps if it plans to replace 213 employees primarily with private workers. The city issued the layoff notices in March. City officials, meanwhile, said they believed they were in compliance with the law and should be able to execute their austerity measures.