No Boeing union in South Carolina after vote
Feb 15, 2017, 5:47 PM | Updated: 6:01 pm
(AP)
(AP)
There will be no Boeing union formed in South Carolina after nearly 3,000 workers voted Wednesday.
Workers at Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina plant voted throughout the day on whether to join the Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. In the end, there were not enough votes to join the union.
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“We’re disappointed the workers at Boeing South Carolina will not yet have the opportunity to see all the benefits that come with union representation” said IAM lead organizer Mike Evans in a press release. “But more than anything, we are disheartened they will have to continue to work under a system that suppresses wages, fosters inconsistency and awards only a chosen few.”
Both Boeing and the aerospace union purchased billboards, print ads, television and radio ads, for weeks, according to the Associated Press, in attempts to encourage workers to vote for, or against the unionization.
It’s not the first attempt. IAM tried to unionize the plant in 2015, but said there was a toxic atmosphere and political interference at the time and ceased that effort.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the Boeing plant for the rollout of the first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner from the Charleston campus, AP reports.
Boeing union
The IAM further noted that South Carolina has the lowest percentage of union members in the nation. It blamed the lack of Boeing union votes on the aerospace company.
“Boeing management spent a lot of money to make sure power and profits remained concentrated at the very top,” Evans said. “The company’s anti-union conduct reached new lows. The IAM remains committed to getting Boeing South Carolina workers the respect, wages and consistency they deserve.”
If workers want to vote again on whether or not starting a union, they will have to wait one year to take another vote. IAM plans to continue to encourage the formation of a union at the South Carolina plant.
IAM is the largest aerospace union in the United States with 90,000 members. It represents about 35,000 employees at 24 other Boeing locations in the nation.
