Unions: Friend or foe to Mississippi workers?

The state of Mississippi has seen an economic explosion in industry during the last decade.

With growth of industry, however, has come the decline of labor unions in the state.

Gov. Phil Bryant has repeatedly touted that Mississippi is a “non-union state.”

When contacted about the article, the governor’s office  referred to an excerpt of Bryant's inaugural address.

“As a right to work state, we have assured workers the freedom from intimidation and interference in their desire to seek economic security by helping them establish not just a job but a career," the governor said in the speech.

Last week, Continental Tire announced it would build a plant in Hinds County, representing a investment of $1.45 billion and creating approximately 2,500 jobs.

Once located in North Carolina, Continental left that state in 2006 after a dispute with workers, according to Carroll Gray, former president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.

Paul Williams, executive vice president of Continental Tire, said the company did not "predominately" choose Mississippi because it is a right-to-work state.

"Our largest truck tire plant in the world is actually in Illinois," Williams said Monday. "We've had success in every type of state, so it really didn't matter so much. For us, it came down to the logistics, to the incentives. It came down to Clinton, to the technical capability population. There was a lot of different elements. I wouldn't say right-to-work state was one of predominant elements."

In Lowndes County, the industrial park came to life as Severstal, Paccar and Stark Aerospace put down Mississippi roots.

While the growth of the industrial park was an economic boost for Lowndes County, the area was no stranger to industry.

General Tire, Omnova, EkoNobel and American Bosch were all major industrial players in the Columbus city limits. Of those four companies, only EkoNobel remains.

The others, all union, have shuttered.

State Rep. Gary Chism said the numerous plant closures were due, in part, to unions.

“There have been numerous unions that have been part of the Lowndes County employment,” Chism said. “The old companies that have been all part of the economic engine of Columbus had unions, but times have changed. The reason why we’re getting some of the things that we’re getting is because we’re nonunion.”

Severstal was bought out by Steel Dynamics in 2014. General manager Madhu Ranade said Steel Dynamics was nonunion.

"We are still a nonunion operation, and I think people are pretty happy, especially with Steel Dynamics taking good care of all the employees," Rande said.

Steel Dynamics operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It employs 650 workers, Ranade said.

Referencing Omnova, which closed in 2012 after two years of a union strike, Chism said, “They went on strike, and the company just said, 'You know what, we’ll just forget about it; we'’ll go someplace else.'”

Omnova officials did not return calls seeking comments.

Robert Shaffer, president of the Mississippi chapter of AFL-CIO, said union workers want to enjoy “much of the same benefits that Mr. Chism enjoys by being a legislator.”

“You have to look in the mirror and say, 'What do I want in life? Do I want a voice in the workplace that I work in, or do I not want to have a voice.' To each his own.”

A complaint filed with the National Labor Relation Board in November alleges Nissan and Nissan employer Kelly Services have been "interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed" to them by law in the Canton plant.

Workers have been threatened with retaliation, including being fired, for their union and protected concerted activities, according to the complaint.

Nissan denies the allegations.

Of the Canton plant, Shaffer said, "That was going to be the grandest thing ever, but if you talk to some of the workers out there, it’s not that way."

Robert Sutton has worked at Siemens in Richland for “37 and a half years.”

Sutton is a member of United Auto Workers local 1956 and believes his union membership "raises the standard of living.”

“It gives them a sense of dignity, a voice at the table and it’s all about respect,” Sutton said. “There are positive results by having a union. In my plant, it gives us the opportunity to bargain and negotiate wages, holidays, health and safety.”

Sutton said he feels union work is often mischaracterized.

"A lot of the misconception is that unions take care of lazy people, people that don’t want to work," he said. "I think they have a bad stigma. We don’t do that. We have rules and regulations that the company and union sit down and agree to. Any violation of those could lead up to termination."

He added, "We’re no different than any other worker. We’re involved in community events, we get involved in charitable organizations ... we play on softball teams, we coach Little League. We're no different than any other worker; we just believe in having a seat at the table of where we work at."

Schaffer said he hopes future workers at Continental are well taken care of, regardless of whether they are unionized.

"It’s about a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, and that’s as good as it gets for anybody in the real world," he said.

Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com or (601) 961-7303. Follow @FowlerSarah on Twitter.