Despite the Haley administration’s efforts to rebuff union activity in South Carolina, the International Association of Machinists is actively looking for new members at the Boeing plant in North Charleston.
The union reportedly did a mass mailing to hourly Boeing North Charleston workers which included information about labor rights and a card employees could fill out to enable the union to represent workers in collective bargaining efforts.
According to a report by the Charleston Regional Business Journal, machinist union spokesman Frank Larkin says they have invited Boeing workers to a meeting next Tuesday that is informational in nature.
Larkin says a big union selling point these days is that workers like the kind of health care and retirement benefits that come with a union contract.
The machinist union’s attempt at organizing North Charleston Boeing workers is a first step in deciding whether to spend the time and effort in this right to work state.
Right-to-work means unions won’t have automatic dues deductions. And in South Carolina workers cannot be forced to join a union, though they are still covered by collective bargaining agreements.
