The ILA hierarchy’s clear motive in suing two carriers that had docked at Leatherman, and in its threat to sue others if they did the same, was to bully the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), with whom the union had no contract, into selling out the freedom of union-free port employees who then operated heavy equipment.
Union-label state Democrat politicians like Mr. Surovell and Gov. Abigail Spanberger evidently calculated that a mandatory monopoly-bargaining law would be a less politically costly way than Right to Work destruction for them to pay back the Big Labor bosses who had been critical to their 2025 electoral successes.
Gov. Hochul’s decision to back additional bloating of government pensions, despite the severe blow it will deal to already overburdened property taxpayers, as she seeks reelection this year is about Big Labor monopoly power and the extraordinary political power that it affords union bosses.
