Ruins of the Chiquola Mill in Honea Path, S.C. (Paul Hyde/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
About eight or so AT&T employees were on strike the other day in a parking lot in Anderson County.
They didn’t march. Too hot for that.
They stood or sat in the intense August sun holding signs that said things like “HONK IF YOU SUPPORT WORKERS.”
Few drivers honked in sympathy.
“How long do you think the strike will last?” I asked.
“We hope it’ll end today,” one striker said with frustration. “We want to get back to work.”
It didn’t end that day. The strike against AT&T in the Southeast is in its third week , involving 17,000 workers in at least nine states, including South Carolina.
But even a small-scale strike is a rare and strange sight to see in our state.
South Carolina has the lowest rate of union members , at 2.3% of all employees, of any state in the country.
To understand one reason why, drive about 20 miles from the parking lot of striking workers to the town of Honea Path, population 3,788.