Unions not welcome here

Listen to Dave Ross Commentary: South Carolina’s union “unwelcome” mat

She says that to create jobs, you must trust businesses and get rid of the unions.

I was probably the only non-South Carolinian who watched Governor Nikki Haley’s state of the state address on CSPAN.

“I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country. It is an economic tool like no other,” Haley said.

But people should hear this because she says she’s discovered the secret to creating jobs: fight labor unions.

“They will do everything they can to invade our state and drive a wedge between our workers and our employers. We can’t have that,” Haley said.

And to prove her approach works, she introduced an executive of the Boeing Company, which has set up a giant new assembly plant in North Charleston, followed by a slew of other execs from BMW to Otis Elevators, who’ve set up or expanded businesses in the union unfriendly environment of South Carolina.

Because, she says, South Carolina employees don’t need unions. Unions, she says, only suck money out of employees pockets. And she plans to force them to disclose which politicians they give it to.

“And we’ll make the unions understand they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome in the state of South Carolina,” Haley said.

A state which, by the way ended 2011 with a budget surplus, a state which, this weekend, will likely determine who runs against Barack Obama.