Blundstones leave "Oz" for India,,,,

I wont be buying Blunstones again!
They can stick them fair up their Ar#e.
They say its because the labour is cheaper........I asume the price will be going down then???

That's what you call a crying shame......

The last pair of Blundstones that I bought (6/06) were the most uncomfortable boots that I have ever owned!

G'Day All,

There are still enough boot makers left in Australia to keep us all going.

Oliver my personal favourite at the moment.

The CEO said, "labour 1/20th what we pay here"

He didn't of course mention that HE would take a large pay cut to match the cheap indian labour?

On the news employees this afternoon, "no-one told us our jobs were at risk"

Looks like another case of being stuck in a board room trying to figure out why they are losing money. (Fact is - if they got OUT of the board room more and worked with their employees the story may well be very different).

Have seen this lots of times before - boss blaming workers when in reality the boss it to blame.

I know this is a generalization, and there are some very well run companies out there, the difficult part for the employees is it is hard for them to tell the difference until it is too late.

Regards

Rolande

Another vote for the redbacks, damn fine boot, very comfortable and made here. If your in southern Sydney go and see the bloke at Sutherland on President Avenue, he's got heaps of Redbacks ready to go.

Would be nice since they're saving so much in labour costs now that the price would drop, but that will never happen, the share price goes up and the CEO gets a good stock option deal.

Only thing to do here people is slip on your Blundstone's and walk down to your nearest redback dealer and buy a pair, they'll get the message eventually.

Bilbo, let me give you the best bit of advice you'll hear all year. Check out 'Steel Blue' work boots.

Made in Malaga WA and available from Work Clobber outlets amongst others. I just bough another pair today to fit over my ankle brace funnily enough.

Light, super comfy, extraordinarily well made......the ducks guts. If you don't like them, I'll give you my address and you can come round and kick me up the bum with them. All joking aside, I can't speak highly enough of these boots. (no affiliation or financial interest etc)

Trust me, just go and check out a pair in the shop and see what you think.

Blundstone have been feeling the heat for a few years, mainly because nearly all the other boot manufacturers in Australia get the upper part of the boot made offshore (Indonesia) and have the sole "injection moulded" on here in AUS. This way they can say "made in Australia"

Blundstone have always used first class leather, mainly from Tasmania ( they own their own tanneries ) and the last few years from NZ as well. The premium leather boots in the Blundstone line up are aussie hides from cold climates because the colder the climate, the thicker the hide, the better the finished product.

Having worked for a retailer of work boots for 18 years who has had a big slice of business with Blundstone I can assure you we were all surprised when we heard. Not surprised that an aussie boot company was going totally offshore, just that the first one is blundstone. They will all do it in a few years, just like everything from Yakka and King Gee is now from China or Fiji.

So, let me ask all of you a question. Take off your shirt, look at the label and tell me where it was made.

Another thing. Blundstone is a family owned business, still in the hands of decendents of the founder.

Don't know about Redback Boots, But Rossi are definately completely aussie made and family owned.

Cheers,

Muzz

I think we consumer have a lot to answer for too. If any product is a dollar cheaper most people jump on it without thinking why is it cheaper.
When I was in Germany a few years back in noticed most bits are still made in Germany even the cheap stuff like pens and cigarette lighters. Most books printed in Germany. The Germans rather pay a few bucks more and avoid buying imported stuff.Maybe we need to look at ourself as well.
It's easy to blame the bosses and call the greedy........how greedy are we?

Reiner

What a load of bollocks. I'm starting to get sick of this happening. A lot of componentry welding for new 'Aussie built' cars is being done overseas. The protective clothing in these couintries consists of thongs, shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses and cardboard face mask. No wonder these companies are saving billions, they don't have OH&S laws to comply with and unions to stand up to them!

I'm still trying to break my work Blundstones but haven't been able to. They've survived everything i can throw at them. Was great that they were Aussie made.

Rossi are still made in Adelaide, Sir Donald Bradman Drive actually, pretty good name for a road and my hiking boots are still going strong after many hours of tough hiking. Happy customer with the products but not happy if manufacturing gets sent off shore.

Barnesy

Bradley, we have plenty of clever People here in OZ.......the problem is all the stupid ones become politicians and public servants.

Reiner