EARTH TO HALEY: “THE BATTLE IS O’ER, THE VICTORY WON“
S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley has made going on the war path against unions her top priority of 2012 … assuming of course that your definition of “going on the war path” means issuing executive orders that duplicate existing state law and supporting state legislation that duplicates existing federal reporting requirements.
(To read more about Haley’s ridiculously non-consequential “anti-union efforts,” click here).
Anyway, rather than taking aim at unions – it would seem that Haley’s administration should have instead been taking credit for a job well done.
According to statistics published Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), union membership in South Carolina plunged during Haley’s first year in office – from 80,000 to 59,000. As a result of this 21,000-worker decline, South Carolina’s union membership rate dropped from 4.6 percent to 3.4 percent – giving the Palmetto State the second-lowest percentage of union workers in the entire nation.
Woot woot, right?
Or as Haley says “get excited,” “let’s celebrate” and yes … “it’s a great day in South Carolina.”
And we’re sure that this decline is exclusively attributable to Haley’s promise to “talk smack” to the unions a year ago.
Anyway, as we’ve noted before we can’t stand unions either … but seeing as we’ve pretty much got them on the ropes in South Carolina at the moment (which isn’t surprising seeing as South Carolina is a right-to-work state), shouldn’t our leaders be focusing on other issues?
If Haley were smart, she would have declared victory on this issue. And if she were principled, she would have moved on to real reforms aimed at addressing real problems in this state.
Unfortunately for South Carolina, as she has demonstrated on numerous occasions since taking office a year ago, our governor is neither smart nor principled.
Oh well … we would encourage Haley to click on the BLS report below. We’ve even gone to the trouble of highlighting the relevant data on the document for her.
UNION MEMBERSHIP 2011 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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By SCBlues January 27, 2012 at 11:27 am
But all of this nonsense impresses the Tea Baggers that she panders to . . .
By Is this SHIITE for real January 27, 2012 at 11:56 am
Parents Pakistani born? Born in the 1930s. Before 1947, Sikhs populated many towns and villages of the present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Due to persecussion, headed to India.
By conservative1 January 27, 2012 at 12:14 pm
Spoke with a man. He lived for years in the middle east and worked as a contractor. He said the family, without a doubt, looked Pakistani or Arab. Currently, the Pujab is split between Pakistan and India.http://ancientpakistan.blogspot.com/2010/04/are-indians-and-pakistanis-same-people.html
By jimlewis,owb January 27, 2012 at 12:17 pm
A little long so hit the damn scroll key before you end up bitching!
Ever since Nikki Haley took office I have tried to understand her management style. Since there is little today that is “original” she had to read something, experience something or has been told something that drives her management choices.
Then while reading the Constitution early this morning it hit me.
Lords Proprietor!
Haley fashions herself a Lords Proprietor. Lords Proprietor was the name for the chief or highest (often noble) owners or proprietors of certain English proprietary colonies in America, such as Carolina, New Jersey and Barbados. In fact Queen Elizabeth II is currently Lord Proprietor of the Isle of Mann.
Haley is Lord Proprietor of South Carolina. As Lord, or Queen, her responsibility is to appoint individuals to oversee her possessions which in this case are a bushel of Board Appointments and a peck of State Agency Heads.
The Overseers appointed by Queen Haley don’t have to be competent. In fact they often don’t know anything about what they are overseeing. Their sole function and existence is based in their loyalty and devotion to the Queen. The average Overseer rarely lasts for more than a few months. The best will move on to other things. The worst are fired or pawned off to another Lord Proprietor. Overseers rarely satisfy the Queen for long.
Since Overseers, like the Queen, are absent for most if not all the time from any actual work site, they hire Drivers. Drivers’ jobs are manifold, but they are expected above all to maintain discipline and order at various work sites.
Drivers are an integral part of the on-site work force, but they are especially favored by the Overseer. To maintain the goodwill of the Overseer without losing the respect of one’s fellow workers is near to impossible even for the most competent Driver.
If an incompetent Queen appoints incompetent Overseers who in turn appoint incompetent Drivers then revolts are quick, devastating and costly.
To all those workers at DHEC, Bless your Heart!
By guru guru January 27, 2012 at 12:46 pm
With hands clasped and head bowed, my thanks to you, Sahib, for this interesting and insightful post
By semi January 28, 2012 at 9:35 pm
History, also leads us to the English dominance and influence in India. So it is has been ingrained in her heritage! A little wager is in order as to when the guv will get her trip to the homeland. From all newspaper articles the first Boeing 787 to be manufactured in SC was sold to India airlines. Load the wagons the guv is off on a trip with who knows how many to her homeland. I assume the immediate family and the rest of the temple, her staff, commerce staff, all of the low country’s legislative delegation and whoever else the plane can carry. Nice trip over, but who’s paying for the flight back?
By Ralph Hightower January 27, 2012 at 12:31 pm
That’s SC Governot Nikki Haley for you. Rather than focusing on real issues to fix, she is going after the “low hanging fruit” and creating issues that don’t exist.
That way, she can say “I fixed this and I fixed that so you should elect me for another four years.” Meanwhile the real issues still remain fixing.
She is just one more cog in the line of “Do Nothing Governors” that’s we’ve had since David Beastley.
By graduate January 27, 2012 at 12:45 pm
At least I did not cheat my way through school.
By eggaday January 28, 2012 at 7:42 am
Ralph, you have mastered those extra T’s. They’re good Dude.
By Common Sense January 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Yep, South Carolina has second lowest percentage of Union members and the second highest percentage of people unemployed. Go figure. Once again, SC gets what it deserves. Arrogant leaders, with ignorant ideas and irrelevant solutions. I hope one of these days we will get tired of being last in good things (like workers with good wages and benefits) and first in things bad (graduation rates, unemployed workers, obesity, families on foot stamps, cost of college, educated citizens, crumbling roads, SAT scores…..I could go on).
By barker January 27, 2012 at 1:05 pm
The irony of that ratio has always intrigued me. It has intrigued a lot of people over the years including many of my friends from the former “non-union,” and now “non-existent” textile industry of SC and the SE.
Most of those friends were middle and upper management types within the industry. And most of them are now under-employed at best, or un-employed at worst.
By Crooner January 27, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Fuck a bunch of workers who want decent wages and benefits.
By H.L. Merkin January 27, 2012 at 1:24 pm
“Before one may scare the plain people one must first have a firm understanding of the bugaboos that most facilely alarm them. One must study the schemes that have served to do it in the past, and one must study very carefully the technic of the chief current professionals.”
By eggaday January 28, 2012 at 7:44 am
But one must also study who they are perpetrating those schemes upon because some of the little people actually have B R A I N S
and can yell CHECKMATE
By A Red Blooded True Blue A'merkin January 28, 2012 at 4:20 pm
H.L. Merkin
======
Too funny.
Probably the merkin industry has been lost to Mexico or China too.
By William Hamilton January 27, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Working to keep wages here low doesn’t benefit South Carolina. We have jobs which pay little and have no benefits. Workers draw food stamps while full time employed and show up at the ER when their kids are sick. Industry pauses here for a while as part of a long trip to Mexico or China, which do SC better than we do, or at least cheaper.
We’ve started losing middle class families who supply stable, skilled and educated labor to other states, a new trend. We’ve always lost a lot of younger workers.
I see a lot of people in their 20s and 30s now just treading water, no family, house or career. The Occupy movement is a tiny indication of what might come from them on the ugly day that they wake up with a hangover on Sunday morning, look around their little apartment in a marginal area and remember what their parents had at their age. They’re going to begin to ask why a college education, term of military service, 50 hours a week or work and following the rules doesn’t work.
The Governor doesn’t have an answer for them.
By vicupstate January 27, 2012 at 2:35 pm
“The Governor doesn’t hae an answer for them”
Not true. Her answer is “It’s a great day in South Carolina!”
By The Gods of the Copybook Headings January 27, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Yes, William, forcing up labor costs through unionization is a great way to get the economy reinvigorated.
Anyone in their 20s and 30s looking to the Governor of SC for an “answer” deserves to be hung over in a marginal apartment.
The world does not owe anyone anything.
“If you don’t work, you die.”
So – turn off the TV, put down your iPhone, get up off your ass, hustle up a job or two, and rely on yourself, not the government, for your welfare.
That is what your parents did.
That is the path to freedom.
By vicupstate January 27, 2012 at 2:39 pm
He was referring to the educated, employed, but losing ground middle class.
The people that haven’t seen a raise in 4 or more years, while the CEO gets paid a king’s ransome whether the company succeeds or not.
I guess your reading comprehension is pretty low.
By scmajor January 27, 2012 at 4:12 pm
Hustling up a job or 2 as if they are out there. The fact is playing by the rules doesn’t work anymore. When the 1% break the rules and get caught they get a slap on the wrist. When the 99% break the rules the 1 percenter minions come down on the rule breaker like a ton of bricks.
When the people have finally had enough and turn on the 1% they will rue the day they turned their backs on the country and countrymen in their greed induced fog.
Can’t happen soon enough.
By hhuuhh?? January 27, 2012 at 4:09 pm
“…neither smart nor principled”
Sic knew both and still endorsed her?
What’s best for SC is waaaaay down on your list, ain’t it, boy?
By No Pledge. January 27, 2012 at 4:46 pm
“Yep, South Carolina has second lowest percentage of Union members and the second highest percentage of people unemployed.”
Correlation is not causation. China has zero union members and plenty of employment!
By Chicora January 27, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Makes no sense whatsoever. Low union membership. Go tell that to the 13 unions representing the major railroads that we get most of our factory raw materials from. CSX and Norfork Southern locally that post multi-billion profits from multi-billion corporations….ghee…that don’t have a problem. Their unions just got a 20% raise over five years w/ increased benefits just before Xmas2011. Oh! Didn’t hear about that? Get ready for more price increases on most products coming down the rails real soon!
By Cid January 27, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Yeh if it weren’t for all these damn labor unions Sc would be on top!
What a sham!
Oldest political trick around
When you’re catching heat
Change the subject!
By Todd January 27, 2012 at 9:47 pm
She looks pretty attractive in this pic. Must be because her mouth is closed.
By Toulouse-Lautrec January 28, 2012 at 12:39 am
Todd, She’s very sexy looking and takes great photos. She’s got pretty skin, beautiful eyes, natural hair, and — if she’s careful (the Mister Ed dilemma) — a great smile. I agree with you on that “mouth closed” part. Looks is the reason she’s popular with the national media. Looks. Not brains, character, imagination, leadership, humor, hard work, etc. Looks. BTW, what’s the latest on the recall legislation referendum in the House and Senate?
By Joe January 28, 2012 at 8:24 am
Call out the national guard, we can’t allow this to happen in SC. Garbage truck drivers for Republic Services in Fort Mill have joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Loved it when I read that several school districts outsourced their bus services to private companies. Once prohibited from unionizing the outsourced bus drivers soon voted to unionized.
Of course the employers can fire their union workers, but do they want the publicity?
SC’s Right to work laws means the right to pay workers subsistence, or less, wages and to place their health care on the tax paying public.
By No Pledge. January 30, 2012 at 1:24 am
“SC’s Right to work laws means the right to pay workers subsistence, or less, wages and to place their health care on the tax paying public.”
ALL health care is on the tax-paying public in the end. Workers don’t deserve more than they can command, and in today’s world that isn’t much because they aren’t (excepting SKILLED TRADES) valuable at all.
By Teresa January 30, 2012 at 7:34 am
Right to Work for LESS. In 2011, among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $938, while those who were not union members had median weekly earnings of $729.
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