After publishing our right-to-work newsletter, we received feedback that our position seemed a bit pro-union. To help show the other side of the coin (so to speak), we wanted to share some of the opinions, thoughts, and stories that y’all told us.

Additionally, we wanted to provide some clear facts about at-will employment, so we got with our partner, Find Great People to dive into this topic. Read it here.

“Unions would harm our state's industries if they ever got a foothold. Thank goodness S.C. is a right-to-work state. From personal experience, unions harm the work environment in probably 80-90% of the areas and industries they overtake. S.C. being a right-to-work state is one of the main reasons I moved here as a worker. I also am the main reason I chose to stay here 10 years later when I decided to start my own business. S.C. and our right-to-work atmosphere and limited government are fantastic environments for business, and that is why we are thriving.” - D.B.

“Unions are quite un-American and are inconsistent with the basic principles of supply and demand economics. As long as there is a demand for workers to do a job/role needed by a business and the worker is doing a good job, the employer will pay a fair price to have enough workers to fill the role/job. The price paid to the worker are a direct reflection of the number of people willing to do the job at the price/benefits paid by the employer. If not enough workers are willing to sign up for the job at the price/benefits offered, then the employer will pay higher wages/benefits. If more than the needed number of workers are willing to do the job at the price/benefits offered, then the employer has the right to pay lower wages/benefits as supply exceeds demand. This is economics 101. Unions exist, in my opinion, to fight against these basic principles.” - B.F.

“At one point in our nation’s history, unions were essential to providing safe work environments and advocating on behalf of works for much-needed pay and benefits. I think their value has greatly diminished over time and become another bureaucratic layer that rarely produces the benefits that are so often marketed to members. They also (in many cases, such as teaching) prevent bad teachers from being laid off and exceptional teachers from being receiving additional pay.” - T. C.

“Go look at my hometown of Fostoria, Ohio. See what the union did to that small town, that was once a good strong blue-collar city, full of hard-working men and women. Or look at Cleveland. Both were run by unions It is sad. Many towns of the industrial north could not survive because the workers were "owned" by the unions and didn't have a choice to work at their own "God-given" pace or benefit from their own personal drive to excel. The unions charged the workers so much for the "privilege" of belonging to the union, that eventually the companies could not survive/afford to stay in the north, so they moved out to states or countries, that didn't require you to belong to a union. - A.H.

“In the last five years, more than 27,967 new jobs and $10.35 billion in capital investment have been announced by the SC Department of Commerce and our region’s economic development organizations. Among those 376 projects, 147 of the announcements were by international companies choosing to call our region home.” - John Lummus wrote in a Voices piece. Read the whole thing here.