Boeing Machinists call off vote after union organizers threatened at gunpoint in South Carolina

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The tea party wants is country back......100 years

The Machinists Union has canceled a vote that was scheduled for next week that would ask Boeing's production workers at the company's South Carolina plants if they would like to join the union.

The Machinists faced tough opposition from South Carolina politicians as members campaigned to convince the more than 3,000 Boeing (NYSE: BA) workers to vote in favor of the union. Earlier this week, union officials said they would cancel the vote if they weren't able to get enough of the 787 Dreamliner workers to sign cards saying they were in favor of unionizing.

If the vote happened and the union lost, the Machinists would have to wait a year before asking for a vote again. Now, union organizers can regroup and schedule the vote for six months from now.

International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers said in a statement Friday that union members faced dangerous and violent confrontations with homeowners while they were canvassing for votes. Two organizers were threatened at gunpoint, the union said.

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2015/04/boeing-machinists-call-off-vote-after-union.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2015-04-17&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1429318312&page=all

[AuntPatsy]

1. History seems to keep repeating itself

[BlueJazz]

2. And to think how many good Union people actually died so we could have a decent paying ...

....job and a good life....

[onehandle]

3. Gun culturists are domestic terrorists.

That includes gun rights advocates and NRA members.

You are scum.

[kelliekat44]

4. Unions don't really understand who is their real enemy but they need to look in their own neighbor=

hood. The venom is thick out there.

[Fumesucker]

5. Oh, I think they know the 1% is their real enemy

By which I actually mean the .01% but 1% is shorthand for that.

You don't think all this hate arose spontaneously I hope?

[FreakinDJ]

6. Fighting for his right to earn less

[betterdemsonly]

7. Boeing moved the jobs there specifically because it is an

antiunion state.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. Yes I know that

Unfortunately the work there has been less than standard quality. The Everett WA plant has had to fix a lot the errors on the 787s manufactured in SC.

[mwrguy]

8. We need another Hoffa

Whatever his faults, he wouldn't take this shit laying down.

[Calista241]

9. So, I have a question

South Carolina is a right to work state. Because of that, what benefits does being a union member offer?

Can they still collectively bargain successfully? Strike? That sort of thing?

[metalbot]

10. Right to Work doesn't affect collective bargaining and striking

But it is designed explicitly to weaken unions (because employees can't be forced to join a union in order to get the benefits of collective bargaining). A union can still bargain and strike (though whether they can convince non-union members to go along is a different question).

What I find incredibly contradictory about the "Right to Work" position of the Republican party is that "Right to Work" is basically big government regulating what agreement two private parties (an employer and a union) can enter into by making it illegal for one private party (the employer) to enter into an exclusive supplier agreement with another private party (the union) for labor. For a political party that screams about "government interference in business", this is the government interfering in basic contract law.

[Calista241]

11. Thank you for the answer. I feel good, I learned something today.