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Boston Scientific to close plant, send 1,400 jobs to Costa Rica
By Scott Andron, McClatchy Newspapers
Medical-products manufacturer Boston Scientific will close its plant in Doral, Fla., eliminating 1,400 jobs by 2012, Miami-Dade economic development officials said Friday.
The company is transferring the plant's work to a vacant facility in Costa Rica, where labor costs are much lower, said Frank Nero, president of the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's economic development agency.
The news is a blow not only because of the lost jobs but also because the Beacon Council has been targeting life sciences companies and jobs for recruitment to the county.
The company didn't return calls for comment Friday. Based in Natick, Mass., the company makes medical devices used by doctors in fields ranging from gynecology to urology to oncology. Last year's sales exceeded US$8 billion.
Boston Scientific is at least the third life sciences company to announce plans to ship jobs from South Florida to Latin America in the past year.
BSN Medical disclosed in April that it was closing its FLA Orthopedics plant in Miramar, Fla., laying off 163 workers and sending most of their work to Reynosa, Mexico. The plant made orthopedic support products, such as those used by patients with broken limbs.
Three months earlier, Johnson & Johnson said it was eliminating 159 jobs in Miami Lakes and transferring their work to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The plant belonged to the company's Codman Neurovascular unit, which makes medical devices such as stents and catheters.
If Friday's news of the plant closure has any silver lining, it's that the Beacon Council learned of the plan well in advance and can use the time to market the factory to other potential employers.
The council also will work with South Florida Workforce, a state-supported employment agency, to help workers find jobs with other area life science firms.
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this may help North American workers in this field as CR may have trouble finding qualified native employees due to a myriad of problems such as this following story
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Compromised biology exam becomes major dispute
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Perhaps only in Costa Rica with its easy access to the constitutional court can a biology exam become a major case.
So far the Sala IV has rejected every appeal to keep the Ministerio de Educación Pública from making students retest in biology. The controversy involves fifth year, university bound students. More than 33,000 public and private students took the national biology test earlier this month.
But the education ministry believes that the test was compromised and said that students in at least one school, Liceo de Moravia, got a look at the test the day before. The test is produced by the Imprenta Nacional.
The ministry said that there was a chance that all students got a look at the test and scheduled a retest for Nov. 19.
That's when the constitutional court cases began, brought by parents of students who already took the test. The court dismissed every one, but some parents brought a case to the Tribunal Procesal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda. That court, which evaluates government actions, suspended the test and held a hearing Monday.
The tribunal eventually decided to lift the freeze on the test, and the education ministry is prepared to repeat the examination this afternoon for day students and at 6 p.m. for evening students.
However, there is a chance that a new appeal might be filed with the Sala IV protesting the decision of the Tribunal Procesal Contencioso Administrativo. In which case another freeze might be ordered.
Parents argue that there was no hint of cheating in the schools their students attended, and to retake the test might cause damage because the students are not prepared now.
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In other words, EVERY STUDENT cheated.
All 33,000 of them.
The entire Nation of CR.
And a major company like Boston Scientific wants to move to CR.
Anyway, SoFla loses a lot of good jobs, while there aren't even any bad jobs available.
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The difference between a Sea Story and a Fairy Tale is that a Fairy Tale starts out 'Once Upon a Time..' and a Sea Story starts out 'This is no Shit...'
(export version only, some restrictions may apply, some assembly required, not valid where the sun don't shine...
if you live in the states of Poverty, Darkness or anywhere outside of The Blessings of Civilization Trust, Inc...other rules may apply)
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Who winds up paying that 100% tariff? The end consumer whether directly or indirectly through increased insurance premiums.
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