...the likelihood that right-to-work played even the smallest role in Musk's decision making here is small enough that it appears in the occasional real analysis text.
You should pay a visit to SpaceX company. Union/non-union is a non-issue.
Edit: Come to think of it, Elon would be very very happy if rocket manufacturers really had to deal with union the way car/plane makers do. That would mean rocketing across space is really like getting on a jet liner. But we all know that's many years away.
So yeah, union/non-union is a non-issue for SpaceX.
Union/non-union may not seem like an issue inside SpaceX, but the view from other workers in the industry may not match that. Last month, I was at a 4th of July party which happened to be mostly space workers, and when I brought up the subject of SpaceX the consensus was, 'Cool company. I'd totally work there if the salaries weren't so low.' It surprised me, since I tend to associate up-and-coming companies with money from the Valley with higher salaries.
There are definitely unions in the aerospace industry. My uncle was involved with a strike at United Launch Alliance a few years ago. It's actually the only time I can remember any member of my family going on a picket line.
Could you elaborate on what "the way" means? After all, there are such unions now, like the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers. IAM represents employees at, among others, KSC. Eg, they voted to strike at KSC back in 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06...
(I mention these because strikes are easily reported in the news. Behind the scenes of course many of the engineers who built Ariane and the Shuttle are union labor, but that fact doesn't have the conflict that brings in readers.)
Since I don't see how union labor implies what you think it does, could you clarify?
scarmig|11 years ago
MaysonL|11 years ago
poopsintub|11 years ago
dba7dba|11 years ago
Edit: Come to think of it, Elon would be very very happy if rocket manufacturers really had to deal with union the way car/plane makers do. That would mean rocketing across space is really like getting on a jet liner. But we all know that's many years away.
So yeah, union/non-union is a non-issue for SpaceX.
FiatLuxDave|11 years ago
There are definitely unions in the aerospace industry. My uncle was involved with a strike at United Launch Alliance a few years ago. It's actually the only time I can remember any member of my family going on a picket line.
dalke|11 years ago
Ariane also has to deal with unions. You can see direct evidence at http://www.space.com/13037-ariane-5-launch-postponed-labor-s... .
(I mention these because strikes are easily reported in the news. Behind the scenes of course many of the engineers who built Ariane and the Shuttle are union labor, but that fact doesn't have the conflict that brings in readers.)
Since I don't see how union labor implies what you think it does, could you clarify?
Mvandenbergh|11 years ago