The progress of Berg Manufacturing to today’s Haldex is worthy of William Hogarth, the artist who told the story of “A Rake’s Progress” in eight celebrated paintings in 1754. Hogarth showed how Tom Rakewell dissipated the fortune his miserly father left him. Going from generous parties, to dalliances with women, huge gambling losses, drunkenness and death. The paintings became a classic because the story truly is timeless.
But Hogarth’s sermon applies to Iola’s brake manufacturing plant, not to each of its owner-operators.
Berg Manufacturing came to Iola from the Chicago area as a family operation. Sergio and Charmaine Campanini came with it. Sergio was president of the company founded by Charmaine’s father. They built a home in Iola and raised a family. They became solid, productive members of the Iola community in every way, as did those who worked with them to make Berg thrive.
Berg was sold to Echlin, one of the largest companies producing parts for cars and trucks in the world. It was still an American firm, but the company philosophy was not the same because its stock was traded on the stock exchange and quarterly profits became im-portant. Soon thereafter, four key executives of the Iola plant, Sergio, Bill Lee, Jim Hopper and Gilmour (Gil) Brown, left Echlin together and formed a company of their own to serve the transportation industry, which is now Tramec.
Echlin had its ups and downs, its founder and chief executive officer died, and the Iola plant became part of Midland Brake and then was sold to Haldex, with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.
Haldex, as the company-produced press release published Friday related so succinctly, has divorced itself of any sentimental relationships with its employees or the communities in which the plants are located and devoted itself to chasing the lowest available wages, compatible with production efficiency, to produce the highest achieveable profits — as dictated by Adam Smith and all of his followers down to AIG, Goldman Sachs and their kindred.
Which is why Haldex is moving its Iola production to Monterrey, Mexico, and why it has plants in Hungary, China and Brazil. One is led to surmise that further expansions can be expected in Somalia, the Sudan and North Korea as the political and social climates in those low-wage countries improves.
This is how globalization, when shaped by un-fettered capitalism, works.
And over the very long haul, perhaps all will work out for the best. For as the dedicated profit-seekers deploy over the globe developing the undeveloped places, putting subsistance farmers to work in factories (as China and India have done so rapidly and successfully) living standards in those places will raise.
Expectations will rise, as well, and will pull wages up with them. Global equalization will result. The economic playing field will level.
THIS TRANSITION is already well under way in both India and China. As undeveloped countries develop and wages rise, the Haldexes of the world will find less to gain by buying plants in rich countries and moving their production to poor countries. A different philosophy will arise. The appellation “corporate citizen” will again take on meaning.
And communities will know once more the blessing of having jobs created by companies that are of, by and for the places they call home.
This maturation may take a century, maybe two. Don’t hold your breath.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
