Boeing’s Best Union Buster Is South Carolina’s Governor Nikki Haley

On April 22, 3,000 Boeing employees in South Carolina were scheduled to vote on whether to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union that represents their co-workers in Washington state. The vote was a big deal for the IAM; it fought hard against Boeing’s decision to build its 787 Dreamliner at the nonunion South Carolina plant after repeated strikes in Washington. But today, the union announced it’s withdrawing its election petition, meaning there won’t be a vote for at least six more months at the plant. That’s a victory for Boeing and for its biggest supporter: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Many Republican governors, including Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, have staked out anti-union positions, but Haley has been Boeing’s strongest weapon in its fight with IAM. She’s slammed the union on Facebook and Twitter using hashtags like #BoeingStrong and #VoteNo. She appeared in a Boeing radio ad encouraging workers to reject the unionization bid. In January she devoted part of her State of the State address to the issue. “We have a reputation internationally for being a state that doesn’t want unions, because we don’t need unions,” she said. “I have every confidence that the Boeing workers in Charleston will see this play for exactly what it is and reject this union power grab.” Over the past week, the IAM has acknowledged it might back out of the vote. Interviewed Wednesday, IAM spokesman Frank Larkin said, “Given the effort by Boeing and surrogates to spread misinformation about the IAM, misinformation about collective bargaining, as well as the unprecedented political interference, we’re concerned that a free and fair election is impossible at this time.”