Cross posted at Carolina Politics Online

North Carolina was rated by Forbes Magazine in 2007 as the best state for business. Things have been very successful here. The state economy has grown by leaps and bounds. The population is exploding and the state is amass with wealth. Things are good and the reason for that is that the government of North Carolina has gone out of its way to bend over backwards to create a business friendly environment in the state and attract industry. They have succeeded in doing so for a few different reasons.

The state government loves corporate welfare. I am not a big fan of that. I believe there are better ways to bring industry that is less wasteful than using taxpayer dollars, but nonetheless it’s worked for them. Another reason is the growth of industry has attracted workers from all over the U.S. expanding the pool of an educated work force in the state. And another reason for the increase in jobs is that North Carolina is a more profitable state to do business in because of cheaper labor costs. In translation, that means no unions. Hence, it’s not a surprise that the Marxist AFL-CIO and company are seething at the money they aren’t getting out of this cash cow.

North Carolina has one of the most restrictive laws against collective bargaining by public employees in the country.

But a labor coalition is making a concerted effort to change that.

Leading the drive is the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union, the nation’s fastest-growing union. This spring, the State Employees Association of North Carolina — the major advocacy group for state workers — voted to affiliate with the SEIU.

Also pushing to change the collective bargaining law are the N.C. Association of Educators, the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters and the American Federation of Teachers.

To gain clout in the legislature, the SEIU has been plowing money into Tar Heel political campaigns.

But the drive also has powerful opposition. Business groups fear it will lead to a more powerful labor movement in the state. State and local government officials warn it will lead to work disruptions, drawn-out negotiations, time-consuming grievance procedures and higher taxes.

Business groups are correct. Unions are a major pain in the ass for everyone. There was a time when this country needed collective bargaining and the power of the unions. Prior to the 1930s working conditions in this country were very poor, but those time have changed. We have the 40 work week today and the fringe benefits, and OSHA safety criteria, etc. Unions served their purpose and seek continued existence only to stuff lots of dollars into the pockets of the guys at the top to the detriment of the little guy they claim to be protecting at the bottom.

North Carolina has a good thing going for it and the state legislature realizes that. Why on Earth would they want to ruin that by allowing greedy, wealth-sucking parasites like the SEIU and the AFL-CIO in the fray? If you want to see North Carolina’s future under a union influenced lobby in Raleigh then take a look at Pennsylvania and the extinction of the steel industry. Look at Michigan and the implosion of the auto industry. Take a gander over to Ohio and notice the disappearance of the manufacturers. Greedy unions took it too far and played a major role in this desolation. There is a reason that part of the country is now called the Rust Belt.

Sure, America was doing great back in the 1950’s when close to a third of the work force was unionized and the top income tax rate topped 80%. The reason for that was we had no competition. Europe was still in shambles following World War II. Japan was still in the dark ages and most of the rest of the world was still living in third world conditions. That hasn’t been the case over the last few decades. The rest of the world has become more competitive with better products and cheaper labor and lower costs of doing business. The U.S. has the second highest Corporate Income Tax rate in the world. The labor unions still live with a 1950’s mind set in a 21st century global economy. Simply stated, it doesn’t work.

The North Carolina state legislature seems to understand this and there is no indication that they intend to bow to anything the labor unions throw at their feet. They are squarely in the pockets of big business. That also can have its negative side, but for now it’s the right direction for the state.

We do have some good news today as one of the most insidious anti-freedom measures in recent history, “The Employee Free Choice Act” which would have ended open and free unionization elections failed its cloture vote. The secret ballot is safe for now but make no mistakes that the union heads realize this is their only way to reclaim their old power. This isn’t about protecting the worker this is about forcing workers to do something they don’t want to do in order to gain more power, money, and prestige for the union heads.

This is a big victory but we will have to fight this proposal again in the next session.

Update, this was a remarkable party line vote, the only person crossing the aisle was Sen. Specter.
Republicans voting FOR cloture:
Specter (PA)

Democrats voting AGAINST cloture:
NONE

So the next time someone tells you there are a lot of moderate Democrats, you can just use this vote to show that no there really are not.  If there’s any doubt how much the unions control the Democratic party well…