Tides have Turned, Union Bosses Run Out of Town at Gunpoint

The intimidation has turned the other way on unions. Historically it's the unions that have been thugs, threatening workers to vote, pay dues, and threatening businesses with closures by strikes.

In the South, the unions themselves are on the other end of the gun barrel, literally, while businesses are possibly closing their doors rather than deal with them.  

Boeing, after fighting the unions for too many years at its plant in Washington State, opened an assembly plant in Charleston South Carolina. South Carolina is a right to work state, meaning "you don't have to belong to a union to work here." South Carolina welcomed Boeing with open arms and tax breaks, and no need for Unions.   

The union recently went down to South Carolina and tried to get a union vote in the plant.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had been trying to build support for a vote on unionizing over 3,000 production and maintenance workers, which make up almost half of the Charleston South Carolina’s plant’s employees.  According to statements by union representatives in a Fox News report, when Union representatives showed up at workers homes to convince them to vote for the Union, they were reportedly chased away at gunpoint! 

The workers were so hostile to the Union representatives that the vote has been cancelled. Fox News quoted a union organizer statement

 “An atmosphere of threats, harassment and unprecedented political interference has intimidated workers to the point we don’t believe a free and fair election is possible.” 

The message was clear, "union bosses, stay out of South Carolina, Boeing came here for a reason."

Recently Walmart closed five stores unexpectedly claiming plumbing problems. According to Business Insider, one of the stores closed, located in  Pico Rivera California, was the first Wal-Mart store in the US to go on strike in October 2012. Since then, the store has been a "hotbed" for labor activity. 

Union protests are going on at many Walmart stores across the nation, intent on unionizing Walmart, an employer of over 1.4 million workers nationally. The other stores closed were in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida.

As the unions gather strength protesting at Walmart stores across the country, Walmart could very well be sending a message to these union organizers that they can close any store they want at a moment’s notice. 

There is a clear message being sent. Enjoy your jobs, Walmart employees. If you don't like your pay and benefits that Walmart has brought to your community, go find another job.  

The right to work states in the south are seeing an explosive growth of automobile manufacturing with Toyota, Kia, Mercedes, BMW and other plants in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama the past 10 years. And the white collar workers are following the manufacturing.  In 2014 Mercedes Benz relocated their corporate office from New Jersey to Atlanta, bringing with it 1,000 employees.   

South Carolina alone has over 250 automotive manufacturing plants, suppliers and other companies. In the aerospace industry, South Carolina is home to more than 200 aerospace engineering companies including design firms, service providers and distributors. 

The Governor of South Carolina is very clear that South Carolina does not want any union jobs or even a company with union employees coming into her state; "We discourage any companies that have unions from wanting to come to South Carolina because we don't want to taint the water." 

Keeping the unions out is good for the States, and good for business. The Boeing workers in South Carolina know why Boeing moved to their State and they are grateful for their jobs. They do not want the unions disrupting a good relationship, and are ready to stand armed on the front porch to say so.