is wal-mart good for america? [home] interviews: alan
tonelsonhome watch online photo of tonelson    Mr. Tonelson, you
follow business and industry [for the United States Business and
Industry Council]. ... Who are your members?  Our members are
mainly small and medium-sized manufacturing companies; that is
to say, companies that employ fewer than 500 workers.   And all
kinds of industries?  That's right, but mainly what people often
refer to as smokestack industries, medium-tech industries;
industries that bend and cut and shape metal in various ways,
and they supply larger industries like the auto industry or the
machine-tool industry or the plastics industry. ...  So what
have you seen in the last several years in terms of your
members?  Small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in this
country have never seen a threat to their survival like the
threat that's been coming from the recent trade agreements that
we've been signing. It's important to remember that the firms in
our organization -- and they'