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Are unions the answer to address workplace issues? Vought workers say ‘yes’
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Workers at Vought Aircraft Industries’ North Charleston plant will tell you they are excited to be working for the company that’s building the world’s first airliner made almost entirely of state-of-the-art composite materials.
But talk long enough to workers who voted in favor of union representation at the North Charleston plant, and it quickly becomes apparent that fissures in employee/management relations at the company appeared long before the facility’s recent supply-chain problems.
Over the past five years, unionization in the Charleston area has increased slightly, according to the Charleston Central Labor Council. Currently, about 7,000 workers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement in the Lowcountry, said Erin McKee, council president.
That number represents an increase of 600 to 700 workers over the past five years, and the growth could be forcing some companies to assess how they are addressing the needs of their employees.
Machinist Edward Fell of Summerville said the first collective action by Vought workers occurred before they had completed their initial training.
It was then, Fell recalled, that he had learned about a critical salary disparity. Rather than being offered jobs paying an average of $50,000 a year—a figure ballyhooed by public officials—he and his classmates would get offers for positions at $12 an hour, or $24,960 a year.
“Everybody that applied for a job at the plant had expectations that we were on the cutting edge of something, but when they told us that, it was simply unacceptable,” said Fell, who operates the machine that joins fuselage sections. “We banded together and said $12 an hour simply wasn’t acceptable.”
The plant’s human resources manager was able to secure the worker-trainees offers of $14 to $16 an hour. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the nationwide average wage for an aerospace assembler at $21.09 an hour, or $43,860 a year.
In a statement Vought officials said, “The company offers competitive wages at its North Charleston facility, which is part of a comprehensive benefit package including health and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) match.”
At Vought, pay was one part of a string of complaints and issues the workers said weren’t addressed by company management. Other issues included the manufacturer’s use of contractors who were paid at a higher rate than plant workers, safety issues surrounding working conditions around the fuselage assembly area and plant workers’ receiving enough help to accomplish the work.
“Bottom line, we had some issues that we felt weren’t being addressed,” Fell said, “So we asked the (International Association of Machinists) to come in and see what they could do.”
Good for business
When workers have concerns, businesses must have a system in place to make sure those concerns are being heard, said Jennifer DeWitt of the Lowcountry Manufacturers Council.
It’s just good for business and leads to stronger relationships between a company’s management team and its front-line work crews, DeWitt said. Because companies are competing globally, they must be flexible and fast to get the best product to market. DeWitt said one-on-one relationships between management and employees are the best way to foster teamwork.
“Unionization can have a significant financial impact on a facility, as well as affect operations and efficiency. For companies that want to maintain a union-free environment, it comes down to good management, good human resources and good policies,” DeWitt said.
State of unions
Between 1983 and 2006, the Bureau of National Affairs, an independent organization of reporters, lawyers and editors, reported 3.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost, and most of those had been unionized. But the pro-union vote at Vought might not be the benchmark feared by manufacturers and economic development officials across South Carolina.
IAM already has locals at MeadWestvaco and International Paper in Georgetown, and it also represents civilian workers at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort and at the Marine Corps recruiting station on Parris Island.
In addition to the Vought workers’ vote, the Winston-Salem office of the National Labor Relations Board said that between Sept. 1 and Dec. 13, 2007, six petitions were filed for union elections in the board’s territory, which includes South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and a small portion of Tennessee.
None of those other petitions were filed by workers in South Carolina, and an official with the labor relations board called the six petitions a typical number and not a sign of increased unions in the Southeast.
DeWitt said the number of unions in South Carolina isn’t what individual manufacturers should worry about.
“We don’t think of it in terms of ‘Will my workers want to unionize or not?’ The question to ask is ‘Does the system I have in place create a positive environment where my employees and my company will succeed?’ ” she said. “To accomplish this, I recommend that local manufacturers review their employee policies (and) communication procedures and make sure the right people are in leadership roles.”
Transplants likely swayed the vote
Companies are beginning to realize that South Carolina is attracting workers from many areas of the country who understand unions and who are used to working under collective agreements.
Both Fell and maintenance engineer Michael Nole are relatively new to the region—Fell from Kansas City, Nole from Chicago—and voted in favor of unionization in the Oct. 26 and 27 election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board at the Vought plant.
Fell was elected to the plant workers’ negotiating committee, which will begin meeting with Vought officials in January in an attempt to hammer out the plant’s first collective bargaining agreement.
Nole, a former member of the International Association of Machinists, said people like himself and Fell who are familiar with unions likely swayed the vote.
“It probably did have something to do with it,” he said. “After all, a number of us come from the Midwest and from up North, where we knew someone or had family who were in a union.”
Vought hasn’t determined who will represent the company during negotiations.
“Vought places a high priority on being a great place to work and is focused on providing the kind of workplace that attracts and retains the best people—an environment where employees are treated fairly and with respect,” the company said.
Nole said the vote isn’t just about the workers and how they feel about one issue.
“It’s about feeling that we’re helping to create a place where we’d want our brothers or sisters or children to work,” he said.
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@setcommedia.com.
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