Alcoa does the indecent thing.

Alcoa, the giant American conglomerate, is a business I could hate. I try not to hate anything. But Alcoa puts me to the test. It's everything I despise in capitalism. Heartless, unmitigated greed. Profit at any cost. Even if it means exploiting labor. Ruthless. Immoral. Alcoa has decided to shut down it's big aluminum smelter in Sardinia, where I've been living this winter. That means 500 workers are losing their jobs at Alcoa. And there's likelihood that another 500 will be laid off in subsidiary industries. Sardinia's economy is already in a shambles because of the worldwide recession. And this ain't gonna help. But despite the recession, Alcoa has shown profits of $18 billion in 2009 and $21 billion in 2010 -- the latest years for which figures are available. Meanwhile, Alcoa is opening a new plant in Iceland, where it's cheaper to operate because of lower electricity costs. And because Alcoa is hiring 700 workers, mostly immigrants, for wages of $6 an hour. If that ain't exploitation, please tell me what is. Believe me, Alcoa could afford to trim annual profits by a billion dollars or so, and still come out way ahead of the game. And I suggest that the billion dollars be routed into higher wages for Alcoa workers. In Iceland, in Italy, all over the world. It would be the decent thing for Alcoa to do. But like so many private, capitalist-motivated corporations, Alcoa will continue to do the indecent thing. --Jim Broede