Stinking unions step in to featherbed and pillage the risk and labor of others. Management, which has heretofore maintained at least a muturally beneficial relationship with its workers, is now the enemy. "Labor difficulties" arise, usually in the form of collective extortion. And a once-thriving facility is reduced to a shambles while the demons of socialism dance in the light of a dying fire.
The world of Wesley Mouch doesn't deserve the likes of Hank Reardon.
Or, as some would term it, a MUTUALLY beneficial one ...
(Thanks for the "ping", Red.)
IronJack, it's always been my impression that the North Carolina industrial work force was predominantly non-union.
Could you show us where "stinking unions" were a factor in this specific situation? (I couldn't find any such reference in the article.) Or are you just having another of your "senior moments"???
The union certainly had a huge part in the demise of this plant, as it refused to even submit management's several inducement offers to the membership for a vote. Management's offers were wage/benefit cutbacks, but steady work.
Nor did the union appear to try and negotiate a "temporary" wage/benefit rollback until the plant got back on it's feet and then tie wages to profit/productivity. It simply seemed to dig in it's heels and prefer the business going under rather than giving an inch, even though it did allow a reduced workforce to operate for almost a year under the old union contract. As this is a huge union, and this local worker base is small fry, perhaps it felt intransigence would help strengthen their bargaining position elsewhere?
But management is not faultless, either. The new owner was an overseas British Indian who seemed overbearing, inflexible and more interested in turning an immediate profit than looking a few years ahead to reinvigorize the business. Of course, he stood to lose a lot of his initial investment if he failed. He didn't appear to understand either the community nor the American worker. But, the plant needed capital upgrading and investment to stay competitive and he chose to try and take the upgrade money out of the wages side up front.
Everybody lost, except perhaps the Union, which now has demonstrated it's testosterone for future labor negotiations. They didn't give an inch, and they can now prove their toughness drove a company out of business. That should scare some other owners up for contracts! They'll just move their interests on to their Locals in other states.
Meanwhile, the biggest losers were the workers and the community. There's not much farming anymore and even Burger King jobs are scarce. It looks like both parents will again have to work to make skimpy ends meet, just like during the Depression - if they can even find jobs.
Who says history doesn't repeat itself?
Precisely why there will NEVER be a union where I work! It'll be a cold day in Hell when those scumbags organize here.