Best U.S. factory jobs in rising jeopardy

A new round of cutbacks by Detroit’s automakers carries a larger message – that America’s manufacturing workers are under new pressure in jobs where labor unions had once been able to command middle-class wages for assembly-line jobs.

The moves signal what some analysts say is an accelerating effort to trim wages and workforces. The old Big Three are becoming a much smaller three. The pressures facing Detroit fit a larger pattern – US manufacturers are facing rising pressure from foreign rivals. The good news is that US factories are becoming more competitive, but the bad news is that the needed streamlining is coming at the expense of American workers.

[Read](http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0215/p01s04-usec.html “Read the Article”) (The Christian Science Monitor)