South Carolina Ping 
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Posted on 06/01/2018 6:26:41 PM PDT by buckalfa
A small percentage of Boeing employees at the company’s North Charleston plant have decided to unionize.
Roughly 60 percent of the plant’s 169 flight readiness technicians voted Thursday to join the International Association of Machinists. While it’s only a small toehold for the union among the plant’s roughly 6,000 total employees, it comes just a year after the plant’s entire production line overwhelmingly opposed IAM representation.
“Today was a victory for the American worker,” lead organizer Mike Evans said. “They exercised their freedom to join in union and speak with one voice. This election was never just about wages. The men and women wanted dignity and consistency in the workplace. And this vote put them closer to achieving those goals.”
Boeing had attempted to stop the vote and complained it should have been open to all production employees. Flight readiness technicians are usually responsible for the inspections and testing work done on newly-assembled aircraft. But a National Labor Relations Board regional director rejected Boeing’s arguments last week and ruled the technicians were already treated separately from other employees.
The company said in a statement it “continues to believe that this type of micro-unit is prohibited by federal law. While we are deeply disappointed with the result and are appealing, we will come together as we continue to deliver on our customer commitments.”
Employees had complained about layoffs, mandatory overtime on weekends and what they considered arbitrary rule changes as the company tried to ramp up increased production of Dreamliner aircraft. The union also argued Boeing South Carolina flight technicians are paid 30 percent less than their counterparts at the company’s manufacturing hub in Washington.
Evans said he hoped Boeing will agree to sit down and negotiate in good faith. The company has indicated it plans to appeal the regional director’s ruling.
The vote was also a blow to South Carolina elected officials, who have been adamantly anti-union in an effort to lure large manufacturers to the state.
And the difference in the cost of living in Seattle versus the cost of living in South Carolina is??
Greed.
“Flight readiness technicians are usually responsible for the inspections and testing work done on newly-assembled aircraft.”
The last place you want a bunch of losers who voted to unionize in a right to work state.
Exactly. That’s how they get their foot in the door. Didn’t they unionize the shoe salespeople only at some store years ago?
This is not good news.
I’ve never been pro-union, but as bad as I have seen senior management practices, unions are needing a comeback.
The senior management personal politics, the incompetence, all of it, makes employees wish they protection. Unions provide it.
In my South Carolina factory days we had a response to the word union. It was Tennessee. Was inferred that the company would move there due to cheaper labor rates if a union came here. If that didn’t work the next response was Mexico. These days it would be China.
How many are recent transplants from seattle?
Unions are the last hope of the hopelessly incompetent.
It’s like a small worm in an apple. The company had better get busy working on the other employees.
Cost of living Charleston is 115% of average America
Cost of living in Seattle is 176% of average America,
According to Sterling’s best places
If they weren’t inherently greedy and political unions could do good.
US law prohibits ways of addressing worker concerns by other means such as are used in Europe.
That is 53% more to live in Seattle than Charleston.
I spent much of the nineties in management in the textile industry, and we were all taught union avoidance techniques. I could spot an agitator or organizer at a hundred yards, they all have a certain vibe. They started infiltrating temp agencies, even, in those unionization attempts. Imagine my chagrin that practically all the non-union factories folded and went offshore, while the very few union plants are still there. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate the unions, bunch of marxist automatons, the organizers and upper echelons are at least, but I can’t say I blame the employees. There is zilch loyalty from management, they’ll sell their own mother for a few pennies on the dollar, we’ve certainly seen that over the past two decades. Want to avoid unionization? Treat your employees well, you know, take care of them. Be loyal, expect loyalty in return. Compensate them well as they become more experienced and hence more valuable to the company. Things everyone once understood without coaching or prompting, that nasty old patriarchy thing might not have been so bad after all.
Let one camel stick it’s nose in the tent. Get a million fleas.
IAM is worthless. They will live to regret their vote.
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Ditto. Strained management-labor relations is the primary reason for the need for unions.
The old military saying “take care of your people, they will take care of you”. A company that is lead from the perspective of mutual respect goes a long way. Team building and a sense of pride in an organization is hard work, these things require Leadership vs Management skills. Leadership is about people, mission, teamwork. Management is about logistics and $$
These things are Not the same no matter how much they are used interchangeably in the business community. And again, not all entrepreneurs are created equal.
Everyone accepts that good fences make good neighbors, good work rules for management and employees make for good working environments. If Unions do one thing well, it is work contracts that all involved may truly know the rules within an organization.
Just some food for thought.
“Some animals...............”
Well said.
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