Boeing vote tells next chapter in Southern unionization
Source: Associated Press
Meg Kinnard, Associated Press
Updated 8:56 am, Wednesday, February 15, 2017
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Nearly 3,000 production workers at Boeing's South Carolina plant are deciding whether they want to unionize, writing the next chapter in efforts to organize labor in large manufacturing plants across the South.
The first round of voting began early Wednesday. A second round of voting was set for Wednesday afternoon to accommodate all the employees.
If successful, the balloting on whether employees should join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers would send a significant message to politicians both in the region and Washington that workers here are demanding the same protections and benefits as their colleagues in other areas. And, to the leaders trying to recruit businesses by promoting their states' lack of union presence, it'd make their jobs more difficult.
But this most recent test of Southern acceptance of collective bargaining movements is an uphill battle for the union and its backers. The global aviation giant, which came to South Carolina in part because of the state's minuscule union presence, did so with the aid of millions of dollars in state assistance made possible by officials who spoke out frequently and glowingly with anti-union messages.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Boeing-vote-tells-next-chapter-in-Southern-10933653.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
