Governor Nikki Haley made a national reputation of taking on labor unions when she fought the National Labor Relations Board in regards to its stand on Boeing locating a plant in South Carolina. State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais seems to take a shot against the SCEA, the equivalent of a teacher's union in South Carolina, every chance he gets. So, hardcore real Republicans cheer both as fighters against unions.
But, their shortsighted stand on school bus transportation has union folks licking their chops. Haley and Zais, for various true believer and money reasons, support the bill in the South Carolina House that will sell all the school buses in the state fleet and make districts provide their own transportation or preferably contract with a private company for bus transportation. As their public money for private school tuition scheme, it is not well thought out.
First, public bus drivers in South Carolina can not be unionized. Charleston County decided to privatize its district buses and was met with unionization by the Teamsters, which drove up the cost of those buses. They could afford it. Other counties around South Carolina can not.
VUI will dig deeper into the public school transportation issue. But, this post is about unions. Under the Haley-Zais plan, unions will have an open door to take over your children's transportation to and from school. A private company doing that can be unionized by the Teamsters. They can strike for higher pay, better conditions, whatever, and at whatever time, and leave you scrambling to get your children to school.
As it stands now, your child's transportation is ran by the public. The buses are going to run everyday school is in session. Their trips to and from school can not be held hostage by a Teamster's Union Boss who makes a decision a thousand miles away.
But, that is the kind of thing that happens when two politicians who really do not think things out and have no beliefs other than their own well being push for things they are talked into by well paid lobbyists and groups. The truth is, privatize school buses, and you will have union battles all over this state as well as increased local school taxes, and kids finding themselves unable to get their constitutionally provided access to public schools, which will lead to more taxpayer costs with lawsuits and the like.
Who knew Haley and Zais were so pro union and so much for raising taxes and government spending? They might claim they are not, but their support of this bill shows that they are. Actions speak so much louder than words.
