I simply asked them where they worked.
Or are you asking about the shoes thing? Nobody manufactures shoes domestically anymore.
Perhaps a 'boutique' manufacturer somewhere but not mass-market products.
I don't think we build televisions anymore either. Used to be a plant in Indiana.
Why do you ask?
Quite a few people carry picket signs as a show of support for the people and the union. I have carried picket signs several times for the writers strike, the bus drivers strike and helped out the local grocery store strikers. My compensation obviously lacked a monetary component but, after talking with the strikers, includes the realization that many times pay scale is inversely proportional to intelligence. I did get a mention by a global newspaper who referred to me as a PHL bus driver. Heh, heh.
As far as outsourcing, I think that "trend" is turning around as manufacturers are realizing that shipping jobs overseas is not as cheap as the Tom Friedmans and Waltons of the world would have you believe. In fact, in many cases, they are understanding that if any savings are captured, it is temporary, at best. Even the least intelligent person is realizing that the higher costs of transportation off-set the rapidly rising, but perceived as, still, low cost foreign labor.
BTW, New Balance and Mason shoes are made in the US and most picture tubes are made in the US. The steel industry has returned to the US. Heck, I know personally of a Mexicana pilot, just upgraded, who makes more than any corresponding US/AWA pilot. The scenery is changing, Americans need to wake up and bring reality to the bargaining table.
Also, you simply asked where someone worked. Is it possible many strikers had jobs elsewhere, during the strike? After all, outside certain "protected" industries, when one goes on strike, (not necessarily legally) one is viewed as having quit.
For a start, read Senator Dorgan's, "Take this job and ship it". He is the one who organizes bus tours for the elderly to cross the northern border to purchase cheap pharmaceuticals.