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Comments

1. #1
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm, b-cat said:

   My hat is off to you, Boeing employees! Watch your backs.

2. #2
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm, letget said:

   WOW, this is good news! Those union thugs are going to be a tiny bit upset.
   L

3. #3
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm, PBoilermaker said:

   “Aspirin overdoses” on a large scale.

4. #4
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm, behiker said:

   Unions should be a thing of the past. The only thing they are useful for now is to keep their “leaders” wealthy and serve as an unofficial arm of the democrats.

5. #5
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:08 pm, davidjamesduprey said:

   Smart move by North Charleston.

   Although, this may have been more motivated by money than anything else.

   Its a sad state of affairs when people in general will vote for something that helps them but hurts the city/state/nation as a whole. Like voting for someone who promises free health care and more money for welfare, etc.

   I’m still in favor of the unions being decreased in power and size.

6. #6
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm, cheapseat said:

   how too funny is that. st louis, are you listening?

7. #7
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:12 pm, davidjamesduprey said:

   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm, behiker said:

   Unions should be a thing of the past. The only thing they are useful for now is to keep their “leaders” wealthy and serve as an unofficial arm of the democrats.

   Unions have their place. They were created to better the lives of the workers at the bargaining table. But, when power is given to so few, they become corrupt. Which is what happened to these large nation-wide/world-wide unions. They’ve gotten far too large to serve the people in a particular geographic area. So, they instead work to maintain the power of the leadership.

   Unions should be broken up like Ma Bell. Let each company bargain with each geographic locale separately.

8. #8
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:19 pm, rightwingrocker said:

   Hopefully more unions will find these boots in their a$$! Sadly, I would find it hard to believe the NEA would be next.

   RWR
   http://www.rightwingrocker.com

9. #9
   On September 14th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, b-cat said:

   Unions have their place.

   In the dustbin of history.

10. #10
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:22 pm, RobM1981 said:

    Nice work, Boeing workers!

    Keep your powder dry…

11. #11
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:23 pm, tre said:

    The Purple Shirts will show up with their baseball bats anytime now.

12. #12
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:23 pm, DanMan said:

    If unions have their place please tell me where it is so I can be sure to avoid it.

13. #13
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:24 pm, vickisoup said:

    Unions have their place.

    I agree with b-cat on this, that being that their place is now in the dustbin. The good that unions brought to workers has now been codified in state and federal labor laws.
    They certainly should not be permitted in civil service jobs. Civil servants work for the citizens; not the other way around.

14. #14
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:26 pm, cubbiegal said:

    I would love to get a job at one of the local groceries or at the local hospital-but all of them are UFCW.
    Illinois does NOT have a “right to work” law.
    Been there…done that…got the t-shirt.
    It won’t happen again
    My husband works customer service for a non-union switching railroad and he’s delighted with that.

15. #15
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:31 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Union: Geez, if only we had Card-Check, we could’ve fixed this!”

16. #16
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:34 pm, Tuesday said:

    Hip, hip, hoooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrayyyyyyy!

17. #17
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:35 pm, Flyoverman said:

    They will prosper because of their decision jsut like the auto workers in the SE.

18. #18
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:37 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm, PBoilermaker said:

    “Aspirin overdoses” on a large scale.

    Union made aspirin perhaps?
    Their own little stimulus package
    I have a feeling that if the Purple Punks had to take on real working people in the light of day they would loose. House Keepers and janitors in small groups is a different matter than an entire shift of hard men.

    Let the games begin.

19. #19
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:39 pm, Roland said:

    They were created to better the lives of the workers at the bargaining table.

    Any company that tries to underpay its workers over an extended period of time in a competitive market environment will find itself buried by the better staffed competition.

    If the market isn’t competitive in an industry, that should be fixed, usually by breaking up the noncompetitive industry.

    Mostly unions just move money around and take credit for smaller wage increases than the companies were going to end up having to pay anyway in order to stay competitive. Or they help the industry stay noncompetitive so they can get higher wages than the market would warrant, thereby ripping off consumers and eventually leading to the collapse of the industry (as with our autos).

    Union managements and their inefficiencies are just an added cost of doing business above what wages would cost otherwise.

20. #20
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:45 pm, Tazed and Confused said:

    Unions enslave workers…

    How ironic that union leaders allege to protect workers from their employers.

    Union officers are thugs… nothing more. Smart workers will eventually take the unions to court over fraud, theft, and malfeasance.

21. #21
    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:46 pm, love2rumba said:

    I remember in my days as a blue-collar factory worker at Genie Industries in Redmond, WA. when we were allowed to vote to unionize…The biggest opponenenmts of the unionization, ironically, were ex-members of the International Machinists Union from Boeing, who in a nutshell said, “Don’t go for this…”. The IMU lost that vote in 2000. This needs to happen a lot more often.

22. #22
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:10 pm, Terri said:

    davidjamesduprey said: Unions should be broken up like Ma Bell. Let each company bargain with each geographic locale separately.

    Better let the nurses know because they are headed to a mega-national union if socialist health care is successful. The California Nurses Association and their associates are trying to organize nation-wide so that hospitals can’t negotiate individually.

    Obamacare is bad but this just makes it worse (in case you didn’t think it could get worse).

23. #23
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:20 pm, bk425 said:

    “a new fast-selling lightweight jet that has been delayed by snags with suppliers and an eight-week strike last year by the IAM.” -Really- doesn’t capture it folks. the 787 is seriously troubled, it’s sales -started- huge but a year of delays very seriously hit that. There is an argument to be made that Boeings outsourcing mistakes (and it is the most complicated manufacturing outsourcing in history) are being balanced on the backs of the blue collar workers. I’m no union fan, but this story is deeper then these few paragraphs imply. -Boyd

24. #24
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:38 pm, gunslingerpatriot said:

    Congrats Boeing!
    Now when this happens to the teachers union, I am going to celebrate VERY loudly.

    GSP

25. #25
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:49 pm, cabrerski said:

    The worst place for any union membership is in the government. Even Congress recognizes this as they refuse to allow Congressional staffers and employees to unionize. Unfortunately, they infest all other governmental bodies (the ones that are tasked with getting things done).

    Just the D.C. method of exempting themselves from the laws they pass but forcing the rest of us have to deal with.

26. #26
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:55 pm, yohannbiimu said:

    I wish that so many manufacturing employees (as few that still exist) and other union members in Michigan would get a clue, but the AFL-CIO are a sacred cow in this state, and legislators from both parties bow at their alters. Michigan will continue to sink in its economic morass, and the continued propping up of these job-destroying, economy-sucking syndicates.

27. #27
    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:59 pm, behiker said:

    I once watched some union workers setting up for a trade convention in Chicago. A forklift driver was moving down the aisle when he came to a box in the aisle. He immediately turned off the forklift and sat there until another worker came along a couple of minutes later and moved the box. I was about to move the box when the friend I was with told me that moving the box was the job of another worker and I couldn’t touch it. Also, had the forklift driver moved the box, he would have gotten into a lot of trouble because it wasn’t his job to move the box. Unions slow down production by idiotic reasoning such as this.

    I said it earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again. Unions should be a thing of the past.

28. #28
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:09 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    At this rate, the only union workers not working for the government will be the baseball and basketball players and the UAW.

    Oh, wait, the UAW does work for the government. Or maybe the government works for the UAW.

29. #29
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:14 pm, ChicagoRobb said:

    The convention unions in Chicago are insane. I heard you have to have a union electrician plug in cords for you. Wonder why they are losing convention business?

30. #30
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:15 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    On September 14th, 2009 at 1:59 pm, behiker said:
    I once watched some union workers setting up for a trade convention in Chicago. A forklift driver was moving down the aisle when he came to a box in the aisle. He immediately turned off the forklift and sat there until another worker came along a couple of minutes later and moved the box. I was about to move the box when the friend I was with told me that moving the box was the job of another worker and I couldn’t touch it. Also, had the forklift driver moved the box, he would have gotten into a lot of trouble because it wasn’t his job to move the box. Unions slow down production by idiotic reasoning such as this.

    I said it earlier in this thread and I’ll say it again. Unions should be a thing of the past.

    I was once dressed down by a shop steward for changing a burnt out light bulb on a juice bottle processing line I was on. Seems that was an electricians’s job,
    even though you could never find an electrician during your eight hour shift!

31. #31
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:20 pm, juliesa said:

    Uh oh. We’re trying to get some of that work to be done in my town, San Antonio. That was one big advantage we had over them.

32. #32
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:35 pm, southsideironworks said:

    I was IBEW for 10 years. The union bosses always told me that one day I’d get my turn.

    I did, as soon as I went company.

33. #33
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:38 pm, 24Klady said:

    There are many reasons for outsourcing, but unions figure in the equation to a large degree.

    Sort of O/T – did anyone besides me catch an ad by GM over the weekend about ‘we’re putting our money where our mouth is’? I blurted out, “no dumb@#s, it’s my money and all of my taxpayer friend’s money.” Isn’t GM moving some truck and van production to China? Still scratching my head over that one.

34. #34
    On September 14th, 2009 at 2:53 pm, ChicagoRobb said:

    Both parties need to find a way to bring manufacturing back to the US. Ross Perot was right about the “giant sucking sound”.

35. #35
    On September 14th, 2009 at 3:07 pm, mattm said:

    On September 14th, 2009 at 12:26 pm, cubbiegal said:

    I would love to get a job at one of the local groceries or at the local hospital-but all of them are UFCW.
    Illinois does NOT have a “right to work” law.
    Been there…done that…got the t-shirt.
    It won’t happen again
    My husband works customer service for a non-union switching railroad and he’s delighted with that.

    I work for a Union supermarket until I graduate. Of the three major chains in my area, only 1 is non-union. The non-union chain always seems to be the most well maintained and well stocked.

    I once received a letter from the union about what I could and could not do. A 1/4″ hot water pipe for a floor wash hose broke near the reel. Using logic I shut off the valve for said reel as to prevent thousands of gallons of water from flooding the back an it was 8 PM and the repair guy would come in anywhere between 7 AM and 2 PM.

    If my store actually followed the rules to the T we would be in much worse shape. For example we are not supposed to call up non-Front End employees, say grocery, dairy, etc to help bag for a few minutes when it gets really busy.

36. #36
    On September 14th, 2009 at 3:27 pm, TheCorruptedLamb said:

    I think the UAW should face Monopoly charges and be broken apart.

37. #37
    On September 14th, 2009 at 3:34 pm, Savage24 said:

    I imagine that this will be the end of government contracts for Boeing. So much for honest bidding. The workers have to put up with crooked unions and the American people have to put up with the crooked politicians. Wake up America before it’s to late!

38. #38
    On September 14th, 2009 at 3:56 pm, cicerokid said:

    “…the union was disappointed”

    Understatement of the day. I’m buying stock in Louisville Slugger and axe handles.

39. #39
    On September 14th, 2009 at 4:41 pm, SHoward said:

    On September 14th, 2009 at 3:07 pm, mattm said:

    So is it Ralph’s, Vons or Stater Bros.?

40. #40
    On September 14th, 2009 at 6:26 pm, Truesoldier said:

    Boeing Co. workers in North Charleston voted overwhelmingly to disband their union in a move that could give the region an edge in landing an aircraft plant the company is looking to build.

    This is huge news up hear in WA State. The unions up here keep going on strike and have lead many to believe that all these work stopages are leading Boeing to move out of the state for friendlier areas to build the 787 Dreamliner (that is behind schedule and loosing orders in competion with the Airbus A380). If Boeing leaves WA State is going to see the economy crumble even further than it is now. For every Boeing employee that works in the area there is roughly 3 non-boeing workers that support the company. Talk about a massive loss of jobs.

41. #41
    On September 14th, 2009 at 7:58 pm, AF Sarge (Ret) said:

    On September 14th, 2009 at 6:26 pm, Truesoldier said: This is huge news up hear in WA State. The unions

    Sure would like to see the unions here in WA go the same way. Nothing worse than being “forced” to join a union just to get a paycheck. How’d WA get to be a “no right to work” state anyway? Just curious, was gone to long in the military, my how things change!

    Sarge

42. #42
    On September 14th, 2009 at 8:20 pm, Andy said:

    Back in my aviation blue collar days our overhaul facility was run by the Teamsters. Fortunately, TX being a right to work State, I didn’t have to join and I didn’t. However, I got laid off within 3 months – last hired, first fired.

    However, after a year, I got called back and the union went to bat for me, claiming that the company illegally hired new people before recalling me and 2 others. The steward then sociably pointed out that the least I could do in gratitude was to join.

    I did, as the other two, but unlike them, I immediately leveraged the opportunity to pole-vault into coveted positions that would have taken over a decade in seniority. So in that sense, paying dues was a small price to pay.

    3.5 years later, after accumulating enough time & experience in QA/QC & as master machinist, I boogied to greener union-free pastures totally unrelated to aviation, but where the experience counted.

    Unfortunately, both for the friends and smucks I left behind, they were all out of a job when the uncompetitive climate became unsustainable. That facility, among others, shut down after GE bought the assets of the parent business unit for maintenance. Meanwhile, Boeing snagged the remaining business unit in parts and distribution.

    Bottomline, all unions in the USA have long outlived their usefulness and are a drag on the economy. To whit, Obambi is now taking us to a war of choice over tires with China on behalf of the unions. Pathetic!!!

43. #43
    On September 15th, 2009 at 9:30 am, Wade said:

    Obama is now all wee wee’d up

44. #44
    On September 15th, 2009 at 10:42 am, TooMuchTime said:

    Illinois does NOT have a “right to work” law.

    For some reason, people have been lead to believe that a state can force you to join a union and another cannot. This is so much B.S.

    If even one U.S. citizen has the right to work, then ALL citizens have the right to work. That’s what having rights means. Rights are not granted by the government, privileges are. People are born with rights and one of the few jobs government has is to protect them. Not distribute them to the chosen few.

    Unfortunately, we are innundated with statements like “CA is not a right-to-work state but TX is.” If TX is, then so is CA. Rights are rights and privileges are privileges.

45. #45
    On September 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm, Storybec said:

    I live in Charleston. This has more to do with SC being a right to work state and the mindset of South Carolinians than the Unions. Unions hold no power here at all.

46. #46
    On September 15th, 2009 at 10:24 pm, SHoward said:

    On September 15th, 2009 at 10:42 am, TooMuchTime said

    Unfortunately, that isn’t BS. Itworks like this:

    If a state is not right to work, a union shop can invoke a rule that states 6 out of every 10 employees must be union members. If one of the six union guys leaves, and you apply for his job, you can only have it if one of the remaining four join the union, or you join yourself. Otherwise, that position is held for a union guy, no matter how qualified you are.

    Essentially you are right about everyone having a right to work, but the phrase is used as a legal term to differentiate between the two types of environments.

    In a right to work state, no shop can hold a job for someone willing to join the union.