Oct 30 2009
Boeing to Start Line in South Carolina
Boeing announced this week it will host the second line of its long-delayed 787 airplane project in North Charleston, South Carolina. Boeing will keep the first line in Everett, Washington, where the second line was supposed to operate as well.
The International Association of Machinists local in Everett is upset. Union workers at the plant in South Carolina voted to decertify its union last week. IAW officials are decrying the move as union busting.
Union leaders also think they were used to extract more concessions from South Carolina. Almost $200 million in incentives will come to Boeing. The IAW publicly offered a 10-year guarantee not to strike but complained the company never responded. The IAW struck twice in the prior three years.
Washington politicians are embarrassed. Gov. Christine Gregoire and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray both say they talked to Boeing executives and were told that tax breaks beyond the $3 billion approved in 2003 would not affect their decision.
Boeing remains the largest private employer in Washington state. About 75,000 workers will stay on the job. The second line will employ roughly 3,000 people.
The responses I’ve read to the news mostly fall into two camps. One side blames Boeing for being greedy and thinks non-union South Carolina workers could never produce airplanes as good as IAW members in Washington. The majority view derides the union for being greedy during a recession and dismisses politicians as being anti-business.
The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Sure, Boeing is trying to maximize profits for shareholders. The corporation wants to cut costs. Yes, the IAW is attempting to get the best wages, benefits and working conditions possible for its members. No politician would want to alienate her state’s biggest employer enough for it to ship jobs to the opposite coast.
I found it interesting that the majority or the responses thought the IAW was greedier than the corporation. Washington is a blue state, perhaps to a fault if those posters are to be believed.
Boeing is one example why union membership has decreased. The days where every family has a father, uncle or cousin in a union have passed. It’s also why the bulk of union members now are public employees. City Hall can’t move to China.
