Category Archives: Politics and economics

Heroes, ghosts and history

Posted on by
2
IMG_2353

We didn’t actually wear these buttons.

“Remind me again why we’re going there?”

That was Eric’s question when I suggested we wear these buttons on our flight to Charleston, South Carolina.

It was a reasonable question. South Carolina is the state whose governor declared (in her State of the State address, no less) that unions “are not needed, not wanted and not welcome.” It’s the state whose U.S. Senators have described the National Labor Relations Board as, variously, an “out-of-control bureaucracy,” “third world tyranny” and “rogue agency” for its outrageous! ridiculous! shocking! interference with the God-given right of corporations to tear federal labor law into teeny tiny pieces, suitable for CEOs to scatter like confetti at bonus time.

If your reaction to all this is “huh?”, a bit of background. South Carolina’s business and political leaders reacted with predictable rage when the NLRB issued a complaint against the Boeing Corporation for shifting production of its 787 “Dreamliner” plane from Washington state to a new plant in North Charleston. The 2011 complaint alleged that Boeing’s move was illegal retaliation for (legal, federally-protected) strikes by the company’s unionized workforce in the Seattle area. In support of this absurd allegation (unprecedented! an attack on jobs and freedom and all we hold dear!), the rogue agency cited numerous public statements by Boeing executives that they were moving production to Charleston . . .  in retaliation for strikes by their unionized workforce in the Seattle area.

Oops.*

Thanks to Google maps, I already knew the drive from the airport to downtown Charleston would take us past “Dreamliner Drive.” And there it was. There, also, was the sprawling Boeing facility, still in operation despite the hysteria (job killers! business destroyers!) generated by the NLRB’s enforcement action. (As often happens, the company and the union reached a settlement, and the unfair labor practice charge was withdrawn.)

All in all, I had to agree with Eric that South Carolina was not the most likely destination for a trade unionist and an NLRB attorney.

So, why were we there? Well, why not? Continue reading →

Class at SummerStage

Posted on by
Reply

Dear SummerStage security people:

Was it really necessary to evict concertgoers from the empty “Friends of SummerStage” tent during last night’s downpour? Even when the well-dressed white couple who’d briefly occupied two of the many seats had already left? (They were just not feeling Bodega Bamz.*) Even when the trespassers included toddlers and babies?

I was admiring the way others had seized the tent and wishing I’d thought to do the same – it seemed totally in keeping with the words Ana Tijoux was firing off so powerfully and joyfully from the stage – when you showed up. From what I could see, you were polite (thank you for that) but firm. Within a few minutes the hoi polloi who’d taken shelter had scattered (well, there was that problem with the toddler who ran away and hid, but the parents eventually coaxed him/her out) and the tent was empty again.

I appreciate the need to offer some sort of incentive to major donors, I really do, but come on. The tent was empty. EMPTY. And it was pouring. And did I mention the babies and toddlers?

Great concert, though.

*Neither was I, but that’s neither here nor there.