With union efforts in North Charleston ramping up, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has taken to the radio airwaves in an effort to save the economic future of the Palmetto State.
In radio ads that aired over the weekend, Haley urged Boeing’s North Charleston employees to reject unionization by the International Association of Machinists.
Haley’s efforts are not an effort to merely save the company from unionization, but to stave off what may be an existential threat that could seriously put the state’s economic future into peril–and this should have all South Carolinians concerned and engaged.
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Several years ago, when the Machinists union and Barack Obama’s union lackeys at the National Labor Relations Board threatened to scuttle Boeing’s plan to expand its operations into South Carolina, politicians and employees alike fought back—and, as the company eventually settled the charges against it, South Carolina prevailed.
Since then, Governor Nikki Haley, a vocal opponent of unions coming into South Carolina, has successfully lured company after company into the Palmetto State resulting in more jobs and an stronger economy.
Haley’s continual marketing of the state as a “business-friendly” state, along with the continued expansion of Boeing, has created an economic expansion and job growth across South Carolina. As importantly, according to a study released in December, economic growth is expected to remain consistently positive.
Now, however, all of Haley’s efforts and the subsequent positive economic momentum gained by keeping the Boeing plant may come to a screeching halt thanks to the union’s continued effort to unionize the Boeing plant.
When the union failed at stopping the Boeing expansion several years ago–despite having been previously decertified--the Machinists union never stopped its efforts to lure the Charleston-based employees back into the union.
“It’s an ongoing organizing effort,” said IAM spokesman Frank Larkin. “We still maintain contact with several hundred employees who maintain contact with us. There is enthusiasm and, in some cases, strong enthusiasm for collective bargaining in the facility.”
[snip]
The union meeting is closed to the public because Larkin said, “Given the political atmosphere in South Carolina, we would want to protect the privacy of the employees.”
Despite the negative impact that the unionization of Boeing will have on the state’s economic future and Haley’s ability to attract new business and more jobs, the Machinists union does not appear to want Boeing’s employees to hear from anyone but the union.
South Carolina has a lot at stake with the issue of Boeing’s unionization.
If the union garners enough authorization cards to hold a union election, while the voting would be done in secret, it is the right of every South Carolinian to urge Boeing’s employees to Just Say NO.
The Boeing company took billions in tax breaks from the state of washington to keep jobs in washington, the jobs that were moved to your state. Yes that is right billions in tax breaks for boeing and they move the jobs anyway. Boeing is a real pig for tax breaks. Moved jobs everywhere for a little cash. They make billions and pay nothing in taxes and get billions in breaks each year. As they take away pensions by holding jobs over the heads of workers. I know l worked for them in 3 different states and was treated much better at the boeing places that were union both UAW and IAM.
Your point about taking pensions away from workers occured in Washington State, where the union is strong, did it not?
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And SC is the 7th poorest state in America, that’s surely the unions fault. Also, let’s not forget how the Boeing in SC is struggling to keep up with union plants across the country. You keep living the dream South Carolina, top ten in poverty. Way to go.
In a nutshell, you just explained why jeopardizing future economic growth in the state, by unionizing Boeing, is a bad idea. Why push companies away from the state when they’re finding relocation into SC a good thing?
But they aren’t. The SC Boeing plant is light years behind its Washington. Incomplete fulesalge sections seems that be a big over site that Washington doesn’t have. Considering SC is ranked 8th out of 50 in poverty, why would workers not be in favor of jobs that are a decent wage, with decent healthcare, All while being trained by a union. That’s what building jets is. Skilled labor. I’m sure Boeing wouldn’t mind spending more on its work force than having to fix nearly every fuselage that comes out of South Carolina.
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2023913654_boeing787productionxml.html
I guess what I’m saying is coming to South Carolina right now is more of a detriment to Boeing than a positive. And it should be concerning for its workers too! SC is ranked 16th overall in unemployment, in the top half of the country yet 18.8% of its residents live below the poverty line. SC is ranked the 8th worst in the country in poverty. What that tells me is SC doesn’t need jobs, they need good paying jobs. And while the Governor has promoted job growth perhaps, her state continues to flounder in poverty. An employee’s relationship with his employer is his own business and should he choose to be represented by a union then that too, is how business. Not the governor’s. Boeing is a multimillion dollar company, again, I don’t think they would mind paying for labor that gets the job done right the first time.