Philadelphia: Quakers building a new meeting center had the temerity to hire a non-union contractor for the job. Four days before Christmas, arsonists torched the place and associated equipment.
Employees arriving for work Dec. 21 said they found the site in disarray. The cab of a large, mobile building crane had been completely burned. Vandals had also used the torch to shear off the steel bolts on nearly a dozen columns. Three others were hacked halfway through at the base, as if someone were trying to cut down a tree.
Damages are estimated at half a million dollars; although police currently have no identified suspects, they've stated with certainty that it was union sabotage.
And while unions have been battling to keep Boeing's 737 Max airliner construction work in Renton, Washington, the company has moved ahead with expansion plans at its facilities in North Charleston, South Carolina. They've agreed to purchase nearly 600 acres of land, with an option on nearly 500 additional acres.
The decision does suggest that Boeing may be entertaining the possibility of another assembly plant at the site, perhaps if a mostly-composites successor to the 737 or 777 models is eventually built.
Bet the machinists unionistas aren't happy. Be a real shame if something was to happen over there in North Charleston.
