One of my biggest customers, Alcoa has a plant in Waco with lots of happy non-Union employees. That plant is one of the few that hasn't seen their operations moved to the Acuna Mexico facility. They get good pay and benefits, plenty of overtime and because the cost of living is lower and there is no state income tax they do way better than their remaining counterparts in Alcoa plants in California (Fullerton, Torrence and Carson). Meanwhile Alcoa is actively shuttering union plants because they can't compete in the world market with them. If I leave Cali I'm going straight to east Texas where poachers are already offering great tax breaks to subsidize the move, interest free loans for construction of a 100K sqft tilt up, along with training subsidies since I would be creating 50 good paying machinist jobs. But I would have no trouble finding skilled machinists there unlike Cali where everyone is on drugs (4 of my last 5 applicants failed the drug screen) and were obvious victims of our horrible publik edukashun sistim that graduates people who are functionally illiterate (again thanks to a greedy teacher's union that blocks all meaningful reforms).
Meanwhile not too long ago I got a $250 bill from the City of Huntington Beach for a parking lot inspection fee. WTF!?! For my cobalt slurry drum, I have 3 inspectors, City, County and State, all charging well into the hundreds for 5 minute inspections. And only in California is highly recyclable cobalt considered hazardous. Last month I got a Fire Department self inspection form where I check off that I am safe and send it back with $125. Lest not forget the how dare I have a burglar alarm fee (which is in addition to any false alarm penalties). Fee fee fee tax tax tax.
And even with all of these fees, 9% sales tax, 9-13% income tax, 2% property tax...tax tax tax (car registration runs into the hundreds per year, 36 cents per gallon gas tax in addition to the Fed 18 cents), the city, state and county are beyond broke because of the greedy public employee unions. Many of my customers and competitors have already left but since I have family here I've stayed. But the state is doing its best to get me to fire my employees and leave. I'm not an ATM from which to feed greedy public employee unions. There comes a point that I will shrug and with a big F-U leave and take my sizable economic activity with me.
