U.S. BUYS CHINESE CONDOMS AMERICAN WORKERS SCREWED

Isn't the stimulus meant to be stimulating American workers?  Does this government know what its' right hand is stroking but not the left hand?  Just with what is this government thinking?  Is it thinking?  To quote one of my favorite philosophers, Caveman,  "We are so screwed."

 

 

U.S.MOVE TO CHEAPER CHINESE CONDOMS THREATENS AMERICAN JOBS

by Mike McGraw; Kansas City Star

Call it a condom conundrum.

At a time when the federal government is spending billions of stimulus dollars to stem the tide of U.S. layoffs, should that same government put even more Americans out of work by buying cheaper foreign products?

In this case, Chinese condoms.

That’s the dilemma for the folks at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has distributed an estimated 10 billion U.S.-made AIDS-preventing condoms in poor countries around the world.

But not anymore.

 

 

In a move expected to cost 300 American jobs, the government is switching to cheaper off-shore condoms, including some made in China.

The switch comes despite implied assurances over the years that the agency would continue to buy American whenever possible.

“Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move,” said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped “buy American language” in a recent appropriations bill.

Besides, he said, the sole U.S. supplier — an Alabama company called Alatech — had previous delivery problems under the program.

It’s clear that Alatech’s problems over the years, which apparently have been resolved, may have driven U.S. officials to seek much less expensive foreign-made condoms in the first place.

But that’s cold comfort to Fannie Thomas, who has been making AIDS-preventing condoms in southeastern Alabama for nearly 40 years in the small town of Eufaula.

 

“We pay taxes down here, too, and with all this stimulus money going to save jobs, it seems to me like they (the U.S. government) should share this contract so they can save jobs here in America,” Thomas said.

Thomas and others at the Alatech plant said there aren’t many alternatives for them if it closes down, which is a likely result of the contracting switch.

In fact, the government is close to accepting condoms from two offshore companies: Unidus Corp., which makes condoms in South Korea, and Qingdao Double Butterfly Group, which makes them in China.

Condoms from those companies will likely carry the USAID logo — two hands shaking over red and white bunting.

Formal protest

Alatech formally protested the federal contract going to its foreign competitors. But on March 9, the Government Accountability Office rejected the complaint, noting that it lacked jurisdiction in the case.

Instead of dealing directly with condom makers, as it had done in the past, the government hired a Massachusetts company to act as a middleman. That in turn protected the government from a successful bid protest, because USAID was no longer the “prime contractor.”

Larry Povlacs, Alatech’s president, says he thinks that was a deliberate move by USAID to follow through with what he says it wanted to do all along — cut Alatech out of the bidding. USAID officials deny that, saying the middleman was hired for other reasons.

The agency also said 12 countries had declined free Alatech condoms under the program. But Povlacs said the reason for that was design, which was dictated by the government, not quality. Povlacs said Alatech never was told directly that some countries wanted a thinner condom, more like those sold commercially.

Despite the fact that thinner condoms reportedly are more prone to breakage, Alatech has offered to convert to them, Povlacs said. But he said that USAID “has ignored this fact and still claims that we have field problems.”

In fact, Povlacs said, Alatech spent millions upgrading its manufacturing process and improving its ability to deliver under the contracts, based in part on implied assurances from the agency that it would continue to seek American manufacturers.

Now the company is turning to other methods, including pleading its case in Washington, and possibly a lawsuit that would attempt to enforce buy-American provisions and past promises.

‘Buy American’

In the Great Depression, Congress passed the Buy American Act, meant to give domestic suppliers an advantage over foreign companies in winning government contracts.

But the most recent congressional appropriations bill, passed two weeks ago, did not contain a buy-American provision for condoms, as it had in the past. One lobbyist suggested that failure was more an oversight than anything else.

Alatech officials and others, however, maintain there is more than just American jobs at stake. There is a health and quality issue, too.

The problems with Chinese products — including pet food, toys, toothpaste, drywall and more — have increased to the point where many consumers are now wary of the ubiquitous “made in China” label.

So why should condoms be any different? USAID officials maintain that tests have shown that Chinese condoms hold up well against those made in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Some condom experts disagree.

Bill Howe, president of PolyTech Synergies in Ohio, a consultant to the condom industry, said China is “learning” to produce better condoms, but their products are still “notoriously suspect.”

Howe, who has consulted for Alatech, acknowledges that the company got a “sweet deal” for years as the only supplier to the U.S. government for international condom distribution. Nonetheless, “they have a high level of integrity, and you don’t get that in China,” he said.

Even Chinese condom makers admit that some of their customers did not care for their products. Chinese buyers have complained their country’s condoms were “too thick, low quality and don’t feel comfortable.”

Problems persisted for some Chinese condom makers as late as 2007. Free Chinese-made condoms passed out by AIDS groups in Washington, D.C., were the subject of numerous complaints about unreadable expiration dates. Sometimes, just opening the packages damaged the condoms, some groups alleged.

Attempts to reach Chinese condom manufacturers for comment were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Alatech officials say their fight for condom supremacy is far from over. Workers aren’t giving up, either.

“I’ve made condoms here for 20 years,” said Cindy Robinson, a $9.50-an-hour employee at Alatech. “I understand why they bid the contract overseas, but they should buy American first, and I feel they are going back on their word.”