Posted on 10/24/2014 2:47:29 AM PDT by grundle
The California city of Palmdale was ready to roll out the red carpet this summer when a Japanese company agreed to build a $60 million factory on a city-owned, vacant parcel on the southwest side of town -- but now the company is taking its project out of state and critics say union greed is to blame.
As many as 300 people were slated to work at the 400,000-square-foot plant, painting and wiring light rail cars under a huge contract with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It was a coup for Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, and a plan that seemed to suit Kinkisharyo International, which last year moved its U.S. headquarters from Boston to El Segundo, Calif.
"I believe this is just the beginning of a manufacturing renaissance here in the Antelope Valley,” crowed Ledford in June.
“We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” added Palmdale Economic Development Director Dave Walter. “So many people and organizations played huge roles in making this a reality."
But a newly formed environmental group -- which critics say is a front for a local union -- had other ideas.
The "Antelope Valley Residents for Responsible Development," a group backed by the International Brotherhood Workers Union Local 11, produced a 588-page appeal claiming that construction of the proposed factory would violate state environmental laws, by, among other things, kicking up spores. What the union really wanted, according to Kinkisharyo officials, was clearance to organize the plant without any interference from the company. When Kinkisharyo officials balked, the project suddenly became a potential environmental hazard.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
LMAO..... unions frick everything up!
Go lemmings go!
I’m amazed at how stupid some of these union goons are....
400 jobs down the crapper because they wanted a free pass to unionize...
This is a no-brained from the union’s point of view. Much better no plant than a non-union plant, as long as they can keep the union’s fingerprints off it.
Environmental laws, at this stage in America, exist only to stop development aka growth.
Why would anyone build in California?
Some things just bring a smile to my face. How’s that construction job & future employment at the now “GONE” factory working out for you now Union Morons? LOL Come to Tennessee. Unions don’t rule here. Places like Campbell or Scott Counties would welcome your company. No Union Goons either.
Most of the jobs have already been sent elsewhere. This is just final assembly, wiring, painting, etc. Its not feasible to ship the assembled product from japan.
The same thing is going on in Mass, except there, a Chinese company got the contract.
I think that your's are just crocodile tears since opposition to public transportation is a cornerstone of the political right.
Yeah. I don’t see the unions upset about this at all. This is about power. If you want that plant, Mr. Mayor, you had better be prepared to kiss some serious union a$$. That’s the message I see here.
A friend of mine lives in the valley and decided to start his own business. But the taxes and fees and impediments and regulations were so onerous that he soon went back to work for somebody else.
That place is toast.
Union zombie: Yeah we showed that evil company! We ran them out of town! We stopped their factory before it even started! We got the power!
Now how am I going to make the next house payment?
Typical liberal kool aid drinker, cuts off nose to spite face.
Union thugs lose again, let’s not forget Hostess
No, opposition to money losing business propositions is a cornerstone of the right. Huge expensive trains that only a minute portion of the population might need or use bleed money.
Bump
How about, “opposition to no bid contracts, political slush funds and no work jobs for the mayor's cronies”.
If the urban politicians cared even one whit about efficient public transportation, then we would have it. They care only about lining their pockets and taking care of their families.
Bingo
Actually the union thugs won here.
Since the plant hadn’t been built yet, no union workers actually lost their jobs. Non-union workers were denied jobs, however.
The union was able to send a clear message, with a defined, tangible impact. Union thugs don’t actually care about jobs; they care about power.
I see your perspective, but in their “win” they cut off their noses to spite their thuglike faces.
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