http://www.postandcourier.com/business/b...7c25a.html

Quote:Organized labor suffered its biggest defeat in decades in South Carolina on Wednesday, with Boeing Co. workers stating overwhelmingly that they do not want to be represented by the International Association of Machinists union.

A total of 2,828 of the approximately 3,000 workers eligible to vote cast ballots, with 74 percent - 2,097 votes - against union representation.

"We’re disappointed the workers at Boeing South Carolina will not yet have the opportunity to see all the benefits that come with union representation" said IAM lead organizer Mike Evans. "But more than anything, we are disheartened they will have to continue to work under a system that suppresses wages, fosters inconsistency and awards only a chosen few."

Joan Robinson-Berry said Boeing's North Charleston workers "will continue to move forward as one team."

"We have a bright future ahead of us and are eager to focus on the accomplishments of this great team and to developing new opportunities," she said in a statement.

Quote:Joe Seiner, a labor law expert with the University of South Carolina, called the IAM's loss "embarrassing" and said it is a setback to organized labor throughout the state.

"This is a major hit to the union," Seiner said, adding that recent talks of layoffs and cost-cutting at Boeing had given the IAM its best shot at gaining a foothold.

"If they can't get a strong vote in this kind of environment, it sends a signal that South Carolina isn't interested in unionization," he said. "Unions might think twice about whether they are going to spend time and resources in a state that they just can't seem to turn."

Scott Hamilton, an aerospace analyst and editor of Leeham News & Comment, called the vote "a humiliating defeat for the IAM that will have negative repercussions" for the union's Washington state members. The IAM represents most production workers at Boeing's Puget Sound locations and in Renton, Wash.

"Boeing will be able to continue to hold non-union Charleston over Seattle's IAM when it comes time to select the site for the new mid-range airplane for the middle-of-the-market sector," Hamilton said.

Quote:South Carolina has the nation's lowest percentage of union members in the U.S., at 1.6 percent of the workforce, federal statistics show. Union membership fell nearly 46 percent between 2006 and 2016, from roughly 59,000 workers to 32,000, the biggest percentage drop nationally.

Seiner attributes the drop to South Carolina's status as a right-to-work state, which means no employee can be forced to join a union, and a political climate in which leaders such as former Gov. Nikki Haley have blasted organized labor's attempts to organize workers.

"Fewer unions means a lower cost of doing business and it makes the state more attractive for industries looking for places that don't have those high union costs," he said.

Quote:This year's campaign - much shorter than the 2015 effort because of new NLRB rules that streamlined the voting process - was contentious, with both sides taking to the airwaves, social media, billboards and print advertising to get their message across to workers. Boeing and the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance bought hundreds of spots for anti-union TV ads while the IAM waged a lower-budget campaign.

"This vote ... reinforces the fact that unions have no place in our state," said Lewis Gossett, president and CEO of the alliance. "We congratulate the teammates of Boeing South Carolina for choosing to stay union free and we are proud of the outstanding work they do producing world-class airplanes."

love it

Winning!

Awesome!

yea, that was a slap in the face.

If Trump can dismantle the public sector unions, I will get the hammer and chisel out and head to Rushmore. Thats the unions last stronghold, and its one that should be completely illegal.

(02-16-2017 09:31 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  yea, that was a slap in the face.

If Trump can dismantle the public sector unions, I will get the hammer and chisel out and head to Rushmore. Thats the unions last stronghold, and its one that should be completely illegal.

I don't expect Trump to do much on unions, at least in his first term. He got a lot of union votes in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. He'll need those in 2020.

(02-16-2017 11:12 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(02-16-2017 09:31 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  yea, that was a slap in the face.

If Trump can dismantle the public sector unions, I will get the hammer and chisel out and head to Rushmore. Thats the unions last stronghold, and its one that should be completely illegal.

I don't expect Trump to do much on unions, at least in his first term. He got a lot of union votes in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. He'll need those in 2020.

i doubt he got a single public sector union vote.

(02-16-2017 11:13 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  

(02-16-2017 11:12 AM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(02-16-2017 09:31 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  yea, that was a slap in the face.

If Trump can dismantle the public sector unions, I will get the hammer and chisel out and head to Rushmore. Thats the unions last stronghold, and its one that should be completely illegal.

I don't expect Trump to do much on unions, at least in his first term. He got a lot of union votes in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. He'll need those in 2020.

i doubt he got a single public sector union vote.

You might be right, but the other unions will come to the public sector unions' defense without a doubt. Remember that union members might have varied political beliefs, but their leadership are all Dem/Lib proxies.

(02-16-2017 09:31 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  yea, that was a slap in the face.

If Trump can dismantle the public sector unions, I will get the hammer and chisel out and head to Rushmore. Thats the unions last stronghold, and its one that should be completely illegal.

Agree totally.

Y'all unions don't come back now, ya hear?

When unions lose, America wins.

(02-16-2017 05:50 PM)HarmonOliphantOberlanderDevine Wrote:  When unions lose, America wins.

Well America won yuge yesterday because that was a Clemson-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl level beatdown.