Here's another little reminder of how wrong-headed SC economic development policies are. For a bigger version, click here.
Here's the trouble with the state's approach. SC already has a minuscule unionized workforce, yet Governor Haley spent a chunk of her state of the state address (in rhetoric worthy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion*) calling for more measures to make it harder for unions to exist here:
Finally, I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country. It is an economic development tool unlike any other. Our companies in South Carolina understand that they are only as good as those who work for them, and they take care of their employees. The people of South Carolina have a strong work ethic, they value loyalty, and they take tremendous pride in the quality of their work.
We don’t have unions in South Carolina because we don’t need unions in South Carolina. However, as we saw with the assault from the NLRB, the unions don’t understand that. They will do everything they can to invade our state and drive a wedge between our workers and our employers. We can’t have that.
Unions thrive in the dark. Secrecy is their greatest ally, sunlight their most potent adversary.
We can and we will do more to protect South Carolina businesses by shining that light on every action the unions take. With the help and support of Chairman Bill Sandifer and Director Catherine Templeton we will create a competitive playing field for the companies that choose to call our state home.
We will require unions to tell the people of South Carolina how much money they are making on our backs, which politicians they are funding, and how much they are paying themselves.
We will protect the right of every private and public citizen to refuse to join a union, and, by Executive Order, I will make it clear that our state will not subsidize striking workers by paying them unemployment benefits.
And we’ll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome in the State of South Carolina.
Haley- and the GOP 's various tribes in Columbia- are completely missing the point. She talked about an economic arms race in which her state must join the mad dash downward- the least regulation, the lowest wages, the fewest benefits, the measliest workplace protections- lest adjoining states skunk us:
We have to take care of the businesses we already have, and when they can grow and invest back into their people, their product, and our state, we’re doing something right. As we talk with CEOs from around the world, their focus is clear: keep the cost of doing business low. Our agencies have taken strides to reduce regulations and fees, and to change the culture so that every single employee understands that if government is costing our businesses time, we are costing them money.
Looking at the states we compete with – the Tennessees, the Alabamas**, the Virginias – it would be naive to think they will settle for playing second fiddle to South Carolina in the economic arms race. They will scrap for jobs every bit as hard as we will.
And the result? Scraps from the table. As I've noted over and over here, SC may attract hot topic companies like Google and Starbucks, but it's always back office stuff: bean grinderies, server farms. They aren't bringing the high wage knowledge jobs to South Carolina because to those workers, South Carolina is a really hard sell compared to a Silicon Valley, Austin, the Massachusetts tech corridor, or Seattle. Governor Haley highlighted this inequity and with a straight face tried to run it into a plus:
Part of the reason our enthusiasm for Boeing knew no bounds was we’d seen how they operated in Washington State – they took care of those that took care of them. While they were creating 1,000 jobs here, they were expanding 2,000 more in Washington State.
Where's the urge to attract companies that want to raise the bar: better pay, better work conditions, a diverse, respectful, productive workplace? Companies that don't want anything special from government, companies that just do it that way because they believe that's what's best? A past Army recruiting slogan was memorable in its simplicity:
A few years ago the blogdom and the Boys State crowd in Columbia were all aflutter over an ad buy targeting gay tourists in the UK. By the time Adam Fogle lit his little hate pyre and Governor Sanford -even then doing his bit to uphold traditional marriage-and legislators fanned it a while, the word had gone round the world that South Carolina values some visitors way more than others. Even the state's tourism god at USC has said,
Historically, South Carolina has not treated its guests, or even its residents, well, says Simon Hudson, director of the South Carolina Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development*.
The awareness of what South Carolina has to offer is low among residents and potential visitors, he said. Media attention on the state is often negative and "we don't do enough to counter that."
All we want the world to know is- however little a business expects of us, we can be less.
_________________
* Just substitute "Jew/s" for "union/s" and see what you get.
**What kind of Governor puts her state in public competition with Alabama? What's next? "South Carolina: You Palmetto Bangladesh, and No Import Duties!"?
Here's the trouble with the state's approach. SC already has a minuscule unionized workforce, yet Governor Haley spent a chunk of her state of the state address (in rhetoric worthy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion*) calling for more measures to make it harder for unions to exist here:
Finally, I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country. It is an economic development tool unlike any other. Our companies in South Carolina understand that they are only as good as those who work for them, and they take care of their employees. The people of South Carolina have a strong work ethic, they value loyalty, and they take tremendous pride in the quality of their work.
We don’t have unions in South Carolina because we don’t need unions in South Carolina. However, as we saw with the assault from the NLRB, the unions don’t understand that. They will do everything they can to invade our state and drive a wedge between our workers and our employers. We can’t have that.
Unions thrive in the dark. Secrecy is their greatest ally, sunlight their most potent adversary.
We can and we will do more to protect South Carolina businesses by shining that light on every action the unions take. With the help and support of Chairman Bill Sandifer and Director Catherine Templeton we will create a competitive playing field for the companies that choose to call our state home.
We will require unions to tell the people of South Carolina how much money they are making on our backs, which politicians they are funding, and how much they are paying themselves.
We will protect the right of every private and public citizen to refuse to join a union, and, by Executive Order, I will make it clear that our state will not subsidize striking workers by paying them unemployment benefits.
And we’ll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, not wanted, and not welcome in the State of South Carolina.
Haley- and the GOP 's various tribes in Columbia- are completely missing the point. She talked about an economic arms race in which her state must join the mad dash downward- the least regulation, the lowest wages, the fewest benefits, the measliest workplace protections- lest adjoining states skunk us:
We have to take care of the businesses we already have, and when they can grow and invest back into their people, their product, and our state, we’re doing something right. As we talk with CEOs from around the world, their focus is clear: keep the cost of doing business low. Our agencies have taken strides to reduce regulations and fees, and to change the culture so that every single employee understands that if government is costing our businesses time, we are costing them money.
Looking at the states we compete with – the Tennessees, the Alabamas**, the Virginias – it would be naive to think they will settle for playing second fiddle to South Carolina in the economic arms race. They will scrap for jobs every bit as hard as we will.
And the result? Scraps from the table. As I've noted over and over here, SC may attract hot topic companies like Google and Starbucks, but it's always back office stuff: bean grinderies, server farms. They aren't bringing the high wage knowledge jobs to South Carolina because to those workers, South Carolina is a really hard sell compared to a Silicon Valley, Austin, the Massachusetts tech corridor, or Seattle. Governor Haley highlighted this inequity and with a straight face tried to run it into a plus:
Part of the reason our enthusiasm for Boeing knew no bounds was we’d seen how they operated in Washington State – they took care of those that took care of them. While they were creating 1,000 jobs here, they were expanding 2,000 more in Washington State.
Where's the urge to attract companies that want to raise the bar: better pay, better work conditions, a diverse, respectful, productive workplace? Companies that don't want anything special from government, companies that just do it that way because they believe that's what's best? A past Army recruiting slogan was memorable in its simplicity:
A few years ago the blogdom and the Boys State crowd in Columbia were all aflutter over an ad buy targeting gay tourists in the UK. By the time Adam Fogle lit his little hate pyre and Governor Sanford -even then doing his bit to uphold traditional marriage-and legislators fanned it a while, the word had gone round the world that South Carolina values some visitors way more than others. Even the state's tourism god at USC has said,
Historically, South Carolina has not treated its guests, or even its residents, well, says Simon Hudson, director of the South Carolina Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development*.
The awareness of what South Carolina has to offer is low among residents and potential visitors, he said. Media attention on the state is often negative and "we don't do enough to counter that."
All we want the world to know is- however little a business expects of us, we can be less.
_________________
* Just substitute "Jew/s" for "union/s" and see what you get.
**What kind of Governor puts her state in public competition with Alabama? What's next? "South Carolina: You Palmetto Bangladesh, and No Import Duties!"?
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