Network mourns loss of co-chair Marjorie Hammock

Longtime social worker, community activist, and Network Cochair Marjorie Hammock died on Saturday at age 88. She fell ill on a jazz cruise in the Caribbean last month, but was home in Columbia when she transitioned.

We dedicated our first-Thursday jazz workshop to her, as she loved jazz and was a regular at GROW. Friends filled the room to share stories and toast her memory. It was a bittersweet evening. You can see pictures of the gathering in our Photo Album.

Marjorie was deeply loved for the important work she did and the many lives she touched. She was hired in the late 70s to set up the Department of Corrections’ first social work office, and spent many years counseling inmates and implementing new protocols. Her vast range of experience made her able to comfortably relate to those on any rung of the social ladder.

You can listen to an oral history she recorded in 2019 HERE. It’s a fascinating look at her long life from the time she was born in Atlanta, through her formative years in Connecticut, and her college experiences at Spelman and Howard universities. She also talks about her professional life and her political awakening.

The Network benefitted from Marjorie’s leadership for some 15 years. “She is irreplaceable,” Brett Bursey said. “You can’t buy the kind of respect she commanded among her fellow social workers, South Carolina legislators and academics, and grass roots activists. We were fortunate to work with her as long as we did, and our organization’s roots are deeper and healthier because of her.”

Always an advocate for young people, Marjorie was a huge fan of the Modjeska’s Simpkins School. She attended seven sessions, and enjoyed handing out the diplomas at graduations.

If you’d like to honor her memory by making a donation to the school, you can do so HERE. Your contribution will go toward paying stipends for guest speakers and scholarships for students.

Modjeska School begins 2024 session with largest class yet

The Modjeska Simkins School kicked off its spring semester with an orientation session on Saturday, March 2, at GROW in Columbia. With 52 new students and 12 graduates auditing (a perk extended to everyone who completes the course), it is the largest class since the school launched in 2015.

Classes will meet on Monday nights through the end of June at 6:30 in-person in Columbia and in Charleston at the ILA Hall, as well as on Zoom. Sunday Deeper Dives are optional for students and open to the public. To receive notices of the public programs, sign up for the SC Progressive Network‘s email list HERE.

“The incoming class is impressive,” said Brett Bursey, who along with Dr. Robert Greene II will facilitate the spring session. “We look forward to getting to know them over the next few months.”

The youngest student this year is 16. The oldest is pushing 80. That rare inter-generational, inter-racial mingling enriches the diversity of the class and makes for deeper dialogue. Students learn from each other as well as from the instructors and guest presenters.

One student at a time, the school is building community and fueling South Carolina’s movement for social justice. We can’t wait to get started!

See pictures of the orientation in our photo album.

SC Progressive Network deposits $250,000 in bank committed to social justice

(from right) Dominik Mjartan, Optus President; Benita E. Lefft, Optus Chief Operating Officer; SC Progressive Network Executive Director Brett Bursey, and SC Progressive Network Interim Executive Director Brandon Upson

It’s been nearly 50 years since Brett Bursey met Modjeska Monteith Simkins at the Harden St. branch of Victory Savings Bank and opened an account for the Grass Roots Organizing Workshop (GROW). They struck up a friendship and close working relations that endured for the next 18 years of Modjeska’s long life which began in 1899.

Modjeska was 20 years old in 1921 when the Monteith family helped start the bank with $2600 in deposits. Victory Savings, now Optus Bank, was the state’s first Black bank and one of the nation’s few Black banks that made it through the Depression. Victory Savings helped many families, farms, and businesses keep going during the darkest days of Jim Crow. 

Modjeska was engaged in the founding of the NAACP State Conference in 1935, which was one of the most active and aggressive in the South. Her outspoken manner, progressive politics, and leadership saw her pushed out of the State Conference in 1957 when her name was intentionally left off the ballot. It was the height of the Red Scare and social justice organizations and activists were deemed communists by politicians who whipped up hysteria to suppress activism.

Modjeska, known for “making a way out of no way,” started the Richland County Citizens Committee and remained active in local, and legislative matters. She participated and spoke at GROW events ranging from anti-apartheid pickets at banks selling South African gold Krugerrands, to anti-nuclear protests at the Bomb Plant in Aiken County,

In 1996, GROW organized the SC Progressive Network to foster a statewide movement of shared values that is gaining momentum in these days of uncompromising nationalism and white supremacy. 

In 2014, when our office was in the historic Modjeska house, plans were made to start a school to teach effective citizenship and the Modjeska Monteith Simkins School for Human Rights started classes in 2015. The next year, in the archives at Howard University, we discovered that Modjeska had started a Leadership School in 1946, from the same house, with the same curriculum on good jobs, education, healthcare and racial justice we were teaching 70 years later. South Carolina’s history of resistance has been continually erased, preventing new generations fighting the same problems from gaining ground. The Modjeska Simkins School has started taking applications for the 2024 session, teaching the inspiring history of resistance to the same problems we face today. 

Optus, the latest iteration of Victory Savings Bank, manifests the long and closely held tradition of social justice as “mission-centric,” to community banking. The Network moved its main account to one of the big banks when Community Bank, the previous iteration of Victory Savings, went into federal receivership. Brett met with Dominik Mjartan, the president of Optus, and promised to return when the necessary full-service banking operations were attained. Today, SC Progressive Network is depositing $250,000, the majority raised in the last few months from individual donations, to launch a sustained, nonpartisan DemocraSC Campaign to reconstruct democracy. Today’s deposit evidences our appreciation and trust in Optus’ ability to meet our banking needs and their shared commitment to our mission. We encourage like-minded organizations and individuals to join us in transferring accounts to a bank that shares our values.

As we face the most serious challenge to democracy and equality since South Carolina led the nation to war to preserve slavery, we quote Modjeska Simkins, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is no sitting down time.”

Know more. Do more. Be more. The Modjeska Simkins School challenges students of all ages and backgrounds

Graduating class of 2023

The Modjeska Simkins School, the crown jewel of the SC Progressive Network’s projects, is now accepting applications to its spring session, which runs March 2 through June 22. Classes meet on Monday evenings online and in-person at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave. in Columbia.

“The Modjeska Simkins School remains a bulwark for truth against disinformation,” said Robert Greene II, Assistant Professor of History at Claflin University and lead instructor for the Modjeska School since 2019.

“This year’s session comes at a pivotal time in the history of our state, our nation, and our world,” he said. “Historical truth is under attack as never before. Freedoms and rights once taken for granted are now under siege, threatening to reverse the great social movements of the 20th Century. 

“At the Modjeska School, we believe in not only learning history for the sake of knowing our past, but learning how to think critically and how to think democratically. Contrary to popular belief, there is a tradition of human rights—exemplified by Modjeska Simkins herself—in South Carolina.”

This is the 10th year the school has offered its unique curriculum to students of all ages and backgrounds interested in deepening their understanding of South Carolina’s complex history and in learning ways to be more effective voters, citizens, and community organizers. To date, the school has graduated 259 students.

Each session of the school is different, with updated course material and new guest speakers. What remains the same is the intensive, immersive experience that is unlike any other course being offered in South Carolina.

For more information or to apply, see modjeskaschool.com.


We welcome donations of any amount. Click HERE to support the Modjeska Simkins School and help us provide scholarships.


Network shines with more than $42,000 raised in a night of fellowship

A night of purpose, celebration, and unwavering dedication unfolded at GROW in Columbia as the SC Progressive Network held a fundraiser to celebrate its newly appointed Interim Executive Director, Brandon Upson’s, 38th birthday. The event on Friday, Dec. 15, raised an astounding $42,212.

Reflecting on the evening, Upson said, “The Network stands firm as an anti-partisan, no bullshit force, fighting tirelessly for freedom, human rights, social justice, and economic opportunities for every South Carolinian. This accomplishment is a testament to our growing support and our collective commitment to these ideals.

“To lead an organization with such a profound legacy within the progressive movement is a tremendous honor,” Upson said. ‘Yet, this $42,212 raised tonight is merely the start of our journey. There’s much more work ahead.”

The funds raised will fuel the Network’s landmark initiative, the Missing Voter Project. Initiated in 2004, this project engages and empowers young Black voters who are registered to vote but are voting infrequently or not at all. With a goal of reaching more than 150,000 young voters, the Network aims to increase this group’s civic awareness and participation.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter emphasized the crucial role of the Missing Voter Project. “There is no other initiative in our state doing the strategic work to engage, empower, and motivate young people to vote like the Missing Voters Project,” she said. “There’s no wonder why so many are seeing this initiative as a worthy investment. These organizers are doing the work to save the future of our democracy.”

Outgoing Executive Director and a founder of the Network Brett Bursey said, “I picked up the torch of social justice from Modjeska Simkins in 1974, when she was 75. She was the state’s leading revolutionary, who manifested Dr. King’s call for a ‘radical revolution of values.’ Now I am 75, and am passing the torch to Brandon, knowing that he has deep roots in South Carolina and a strategic understanding of the long road to equality. I look forward to focusing on the Modjeska Simkins School and supporting Brandon as he takes the Network to the next level.”

The Network honors the support, unity, and dedication of its members and supporters who contributed to this monumental achievement. Together, they stand as a beacon of change, driving towards a more inclusive and just society.

More photos in our Flickr photo album.

Reclaiming South Carolina by empowering new leaders

Brandon Upson, SCPN Executive Director

As the winds of change sweep across South Carolina, we find ourselves at a critical crossroads. The recent surge in local elections of extremist groups like Moms for Liberty has eclipsed the voices of progress, leaving our state fractured and our democracy hanging by a thread. In this landscape, where the once-solid Democratic strongholds of Columbia and Charleston have flipped, and the representation of Black voices dwindles, we must recognize that salvation lies in the hands of the next generation.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” His words ring true today as we witness young and minority communities lose faith in the power of their vote. The vibrancy of our democracy hinges on their engagement, yet their disillusionment grows with each passing election cycle.

We have front-row seats to the consequences: the ascent of radical factions within the Republican and Democratic parties has overshadowed common-sense idealism. As the Art of War teaches us, one must understand their adversary to overcome them. Our state’s Democratic Party stands at a critical juncture, wielding influence primarily within its internal echelons rather than resonating powerfully across our state’s broader political landscape.

Partisanship must yield to pragmatic leadership in this pivotal moment as the planet faces existential threats and our freedoms teeter on the edge. The traditional playbook has failed us, and it’s time to rewrite the script. It’s time to listen, truly listen, to the voices of working-class people, the marginalized, and the disenchanted—our missing voters.

The solution lies not in perpetuating the same tired rhetoric but in nurturing a new cohort of leaders—innovators unbound by the constraints of conventionality. South Carolina needs fresh ideas, leaders who can bridge divides, and disruptors who deny the confines of party loyalty for the greater good.

The loss of equal representation across our state, through racial and partisan gerrymandering should serve as a clarion call for change. Disillusioned by being taken for granted, young Black voters seek leaders who authentically champion their causes rather than using them as mere election pawns.

It’s time to rebuild the trust that has been eroded by years of neglect and failed promises. For those of us who have been engaged in grassroots organizing, we’ve heard young voters repeatedly say, “My vote doesn’t count.” And to this point, in too many cases, they are absolutely correct. Especially when we see years of racist redistricting tactics used to weaken the value of a Black vote to 3/5 of that of a white vote in our state. If we are going to rekindle the belief in the power of the vote, we must start by making the vote of young Black and African Americans truly matter — and we have a plan for that.

As the new South Carolina Progressive Network Executive Director, I stand committed to this cause. We must orchestrate an organized effort emboldened by passion and driven by purpose to empower and motivate the youth. It’s not just about winning elections; it’s about reinvigorating democracy from its very roots.

Together, we can reclaim South Carolina, not through the lens of political parties but through the unity of purpose. It’s not just a battle for votes; it’s a fight for the soul of our state. Let us march forward, not in the shadows of complacency but in the light of resilience and determination.

The time for change is now.

New board and partners outline next steps at Network retreat

On Saturday, the Network’s board and key allies met in Columbia and online to get acquainted and to map plans for the coming three years. The meeting, a mix of business and fellowship, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the 27-year-old organization’s history.

Brandon Upson, the Network’s new executive director, said the retreat “was inspiring. I’ve never seen a group with the diversity we have work so seamlessly together. We pushed each other to think bigger, and came out with a very clear direction of where we’re going next.” 

Outgoing Director Brett Bursey said, “Our transition has been slow and deliberate because we wanted to do it right rather than right now. We worked hard to update our 25-year-old bylaws and to tap new leaders to take the Network to the next level. The payoff of that process was evident on Saturday.”

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who was under the weather, attended Saturday’s meeting on Zoom.

The Network’s staff and boards of our Education Fund and individual members were joined by Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter and staff from her emerging Gilda Cobb-Hunter Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership, as well as organizers from the Union of Southern Service Workers and Campus Workers United. These organizations are collaborating to expand the capacity and maximize the reach of the Missing Voter Project, the program the Network launched in 2004 targeting key communities with unique messaging and data specific to neighborhoods across South Carolina.

“I was pleased to see such a strong presence from the labor movement as well as elected officials and freedom fighters from different parts of the state,” said Mary Geren, who is spearheading fundraising for the Network. “It was awesome to see and feel the enthusiasm in the room for this next chapter of the SCPN’s mission to promote social justice in every corner of South Carolina! The work won’t be easy, but with such a talented and dedicated team, it is achievable.”

(From left) Chris Salley, Brandon Upson, Mary Geren, Allison Terracio, and Nate Terracio

The afternoon was spent brainstorming, setting timelines, defining priorities, and outlining strategies to expand funding and membership. Business included confirming five new members to the board: Anson Foster, Jeanne Hammock, Chris Salley, Allison Terracio, and Lee Turner. We also welcomed Fellows Kwalee Bryant and Charlotte Martin, recent graduates from a three-month training with the USSW. You can see full list of board, staff, and advisors on our web site.

After the meeting wrapped, everyone was invited to share a meal prepared with love by Columbia chef and Network member Joe Turkaly.

Joe Turkaly (left) and Kyle Criminger, longtime board member

Some of the Network’s more seasoned board members are relieved to see the forward momentum after building renovations and pandemic restrictions put our work on pause for several years. Treasurer Shannon Sylvester — who most of our members know as Shannon Herin, but who just recently married fellow Modjeska Simkins School graduate Richard Sylvester —left the meeting excited and hopeful. “It was inspirational. There were lots of energized, new faces. Like, wow! I felt like I visited the future.”

Brett Bursey (left) and Chris Gardner

Ethics watchdog files suit against SC AG’s political slush fund and the practice of lawyer-legislators electing their judges

Limited in-person seating at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave. in Columbia. Register HERE to join on Zoom.

Join the SC Progressive Policy Institute on Sunday, Nov. 5, 6-7pm in-person and on Zoom, as SC ethics watchdog Dr. John Crangle connects the facts in an explosive case of corruption in all three branches of state government.

Crangle filed a lawsuit in 2021 charging state Attorney General Alan Wilson with illegally and unilaterally awarding $75 million dollars of a $600 million class action settlement to two small law firms in Columbia. Crangle asserts that the amount was grossly excessive and should have been for actual work rather than a percentage of the award.

Wilson hired Columbia-based Willoughby law firm to help represent the state against the US Dept. of Energy for violating an agreement to remove tons of plutonium from America’s Bomb Plant in Aiken. The Willoughby law firm is represented by Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Todd Rutherford.

After filing the case, Crangle went before Circuit Judge Alison Lee to prevent the funds from being transferred prior to determining the legality of the fee. AG Wilson ordered the State Treasurer’s Office to send an expedited $75 million wire transfer to the Willoughby law firm the day before the hearing. The judge denied the request for a temporary injunction, and the money remains publicly unaccounted for.

The AG’s lawyers and Rutherford, representing the law firms who were to receive the fee, then went court to argue that Crangle did not have standing to sue the Attorney General. Judge R. Kirk Griffin agreed, and dismissed the case. Crangle appealed to the State Supreme Court, which agreed the case should be heard and sent it back to Circuit Court for a hearing on the merits. It was assigned to Circuit Judge Daniel McLeod Coble, son of former Columbia mayor Bob Coble and grandson the late state Attorney General Dan McLeod.

On Oct. 12, John Monk, the only reporter following this case, wrote in The State, “the Justices ruled that Crangle had raised a substantial question of public interest about the attorney general’s authority to award legal fees and were therefore entitled to sue Wilson and the law firms. Moreover, Wilson had five other outstanding fee agreements, so the same controversy might arise in the future, justices said.”

On Oct. 24, after hearing arguments from Rutherford, Judge Coble ruled that in spite of being ordered by the State Supreme Court to hold a hearing for Crangle to argue the merits of his case, Crangle did not have the standing to allow him to challenge the Attorney General’s decision. Coble went so far as to scold the justices for presuming their authority to overrule the executive branch on the matter.

Crangle has appealed Coble’s decision not to allow the case to proceed to the Supreme Court. Informed observers predict the Supreme Court will again side with Crangle, but not before the Nov. 6 hearing of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission on the re-election of Coble to the uncontested seat for a full six-year term.

Crangle is quick to point out that the attorneys signed up by the Attorney General are not at fault for accepting these jobs. It is Crangle’s contention that AG Wilson is violating his public trust in selecting private attorneys, paid with large contingency fees with funds that should be sent to the state’s general fund and allocated by the General Assembly. It is also apparent that the Justices share Crangle’s concerns.

Crangle says the case is a glaring example of corruption and collusion that needs to be rooted out, warning, “Attorney General Wilson’s selection of political heavyweights of both political parties to receive potentially millions of dollars gives the appearance that he is investing the peoples’ money in his upcoming campaign for governor.”

•••

The most immediate chapter of this slow-moving, high-stakes, scandal comes with Rutherford’s upcoming Nov. 6 vote on the re-election of Judge Cobleto his first six-year term.

On Oct. 21, Rutherford’s practice of law, in front of judges he elects, prompted nine of the state’s 16 Judicial District Solicitorsto petition House and Senate leaders to remove Rutherford from the Judicial Merit Selection Commission. In fact, a majority of the state’s elected criminal prosecutors based their request on a “pattern” of Rutherford “obtaining unprecedented, and in some instances patently unlawful, outcomes in criminal matters.”

Lawyer-legislators representing clients before judges they elect is unique to South Carolina and Virginia,the only states that allow the practice.

•••

The national lawsuits that Attorney General Wilson has signed on to — and selected the attorneys to participate in the fees he establishes — can be found at: https://www.scag.gov/litigation-retention-agreements/

Class action lawsuits in the works that Wilson has chosen both Republican and Democratic power brokers to receive fees includes:

• Purdue Pharma for damages from opioid addiction:  Former Democratic Senator Marlon Kimpson with the powerful Motley Rice law firm resigned his senate seat in March to take a job with the Biden Administration. Former Republican Senator Paul Thurmond, youngest son of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, former Democratic Representative and gubernatorial candidate James Smith

• Pharmacy Benefit Managers for manipulating prices and access to prescription drugs: Speaker of the SC House of Representatives, Murrell Smith

• Insulin Manufacturers for manipulating prices of insulin: Speaker of the SC House of Representatives, Murrell Smith, and former Chair of the State Republican Party John Simmons.

• Google Advertising Technology: The Chicago law firm that filed the initial suit against Google was quickly joined by two national class action firms in New Orleans and Houston and two days later by Former SC Republican Attorney General Charlie Condon.

• Numerous giant chemical companies making “forever chemicals”: Former SC Democratic Senator and gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen

• • •

Links to John Monk’s coverage of Crangle’s attempts to expose and stop the Attorney General’s political slush fund:

Well-known Columbia lawyer likely winner in race to replace SC Judge Casey Manning BY JOHN MONK UPDATED JANUARY 28, 2022 8:13 PM

https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article257793243.html

Columbia lawyer Coble wins race to replace retiring veteran SC Judge Casey Manning BY JOHN MONK UPDATED FEBRUARY 02, 2022 3:00 PM

https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article257961168.html

Dispute over $75M in legal fees SC attorney general paid to law firms now in judge’s hands BY JOHN MONK OCTOBER 12, 2023 5:00 AM

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article280397419.html

Solicitors ask SC House speaker to remove lawmaker from judge selection group BY JAVON L. HARRIS: Oct. 24

https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article280734035.html

SC judge upholds Attorney General Wilson’s right to give $75 million to private law firms BY JOHN MONK OCTOBER 26, 2023 11:11 AM

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article280895973.html

Progressive Network’s new director promises “big ideas and bold actions”

The SC Progressive Network is pleased to welcome Brandon Upson as our new interim Executive Director. The Aiken native has a wealth of experience in South Carolina politics and grass roots organizing, and is uniquely positioned to expand our reach and maximize our capacity.

Upson will oversee the political education arm of the Network’s portfolio, with a special focus on the nonpartisan Missing Voter Project‘s work with under-represented communities.

“I’m really excited about where we are, and in the possibilities of where we can go.” Upson said. “I want to move the Network forward and upward without losing the identity and the spirit of the organization.”

Brandon Upson (right) and Brett Bursey at October board meeting in Columbia.

Brett Bursey, who has served as Executive Director since co-founding the Network in 1996, will focus on research and policy work, as well as manage the Modjeska Simkins School, the Network’s leadership institute.

“Brandon has come to share the vision that has guided my work since I began organizing 55 years ago,” Bursey said. “We’ve taken the time to get to know each other, and I trust that he can take what we’ve built over these many years and take it to the next level.”

Upson said, “I don’t take this lightly at all. It takes a lot to build an organization, to put everything you have into that organization — the blood, sweat, and tears — and then pass it on to the next generation. I join the SC Progressive Network family with great reverence and excitement. To have the opportunity to build upon the great work that has helped fuel four decades of the South Carolina progressive movement is an honor.”

Upson’s 13 years leading electoral campaigns and legislative caucuses brings critical skills to the Network. He knows first-hand how the political system works in South Carolina, how it doesn’t, and what we can do to reform it. He also has plans for finding new revenue streams, using skills he honed while helping raise $2.1 million for nonprofits in the last four years.

Upson’s roots in the Palmetto State run eight generations deep. He graduated in 2013 from the College of Charleston, where he met his wife, Monica. They live in Tega Cay with their young children Cossette, Sophie, and Patrick.

Upson is an Army veteran who served in Iraq, where he was awarded a Commendation Medal and was his Company’s Soldier of the Year in 2006. He was NCO of the Year in 2008.

Upson’s hiring comes after a lengthy transition period during which the staff and board revamped the Network’s 25-year-old bylaws and laid plans for installing new leadership and expanding our staff.

Network Co-chair Marjorie Hammock said Upson’s background and skills make him a great fit for the Network. “I’m very impressed with him,” she said after his recent presentation to the board where he outlined his proposed plans for the coming year. “He seems committed to keeping true to our original mission while bringing new energy and ideas. I am thrilled.”

Brandon and his wife, Monica

Upson’s background will help advance the Network’s anti-partisan, “inside/outside” strategy. Last spring, he ran a spirited campaign for SC Democratic Party Chair, a race he nearly won. (You can watch his convention speech here.) He founded the nonprofit Amplify Action, dedicated to “rebuilding political power within marginalized communities across the South through the voter registration and civic mobilization of Black men.” In 2020, Amplify registered more than 39,000 Black men and mobilized more than 450,000 Black voters in the South to get to the polls. That background will serve our Missing Voter Project well.

Network board member and union organizer Russell Bannan has worked closely with Upson on labor-related matters and said, “There is no better man for this position.”

Upson plans to focus at first on election protection and the Missing Voter Project, which he sees as a long-term engagement process in targeted communities. “Instead of going wide,” Upson said, “we need to go deep.”

Upson promises “big ideas and bold actions” in the coming year, and invites members and allies to get involved like never before. “Now is our time to take ownership of our work and advance our cause. We all know what’s at stake. Let’s do this — together.”

If the governor wins, we all lose

How the fight over unions at the Charleston port affects all South Carolinians

When Gov. Henry McMaster announced that he is suing the International Longshoremen to prevent union labor from running the cranes at the new Leatherman Terminal in Charleston, his perennial assault on South Carolina workers reached a new and a dangerous low.

Photo: SC Ports Authority

Since 2007, when work began to widen the Panama Canal to handle giant container ships, the state has approved spending $1 billion to deepen the Charleston harbor, build the new Leatherman terminal, and lay a rail-line to an inland port.

The Charleston port is one of the nation’s busiest, holding the U.S. record for exporting cars and tires, which are made here. It also ranks as one of the country’s most efficient terminals. With a $63 billion annual impact, the port plays a vital role in the state’s economy. According to the State Ports Authority, it creates or supports one in 10 jobs in South Carolina.

If the port is so critical and is operating so efficiently, why is the governor suing the ILA in federal court to void its contract with the shipping lines? It defies reason — unless you throw knee-jerk, anti-union politics into the mix.

A little history.

The longshoremen have run Charleston’s docks since 1869, with the founding of the Longshoremen’s Protective Union Association. In 1936, they joined the International Longshoremen’s Association as ILA Local 1422, now the largest Black union local in the country.

Today, the ILA is the backbone of Charleston’s Black middle class, with 1,000 active union members, 5,000 union retirees, and tens of thousands of family members whose lives for generations have been linked to the historic port.

The global shipping industry started using Master Contracts in 1957 to standardize the way ports worked globally. In 1977, the first contract for container shipments was negotiated. Finally, in 1995, the southern ports with “right to work” laws signed on, and every port from Maine to Texas agreed to the contractual relationship between the ILA and the US Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents all the shippers and port operators.

Renewal of the Master Contact of 2022 requires all port terminals to keep ILA’s current jobs, and ports built after the 2016 contract must conform with the national practice of using ILA union labor to load and unload container ships. The only new port is the Leatherman Terminal in Charleston.

While all U.S. ports are owned by the state where they operate, only three ports use state employees to load and unload container ships and for other dock work, in Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington, NC. The ILA has long done most of the work in these ports, but a hybrid mix of union and state workers is unique to these states. The port authorities elsewhere do not operate their ports; they contract out the dock work to professional organizations with an established relationship with the shipping lines — the ILA on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

These ports, and the politicians who control them, echo the old South’s anti-union, low-wage mantra as the way to recruit business. The maritime industry wants to standardize shipping operations and has committed to seeing new port terminals come in line with the rest of the ports in the United States and most of the world.

Gov. McMaster’s lawsuit argues that using the ILA to operate the cranes at the Leatherman Terminal would drive up the cost to the shippers and reduce the profit margin for the state-owned port. The governor considers the Master Contract a form of blackmail for forcing the new terminal to use union labor that will displace the lower-wage state employees. This will reduce the state ports’ cut of the per-container fee charged the shipper.

The National Labor Relations Board and the ILA have soundly rejected the governor’s argument because the ILA works for the shipping lines, not the state, and the governor can’t dictate who they do business with. Plus, South Carolina’s anti-union law prohibits the state from sabotaging labor contracts between consenting employers (shipping lines) and employees (longshoremen).

While the competitive advantage of prohibiting state workers from bargaining keeps wages down and the state’s profits up, using poorly paid state workers to compete with private business seems at odds with the Republican idea of limited government and free markets. Actually, the hybrid operation that the State Ports Authority is running is very much like the French government subsidizing Airbus and competing with Boeing. This seems a contradictory and unprincipled position for a staunchly capitalist governor and his appointed SPA board.

If the governor prevents the ILA from running the container cranes now run by state employees, the Master Contract prohibits the container ships from using the Leatherman Terminal. The container ships are not using the Leatherman docks now, and if the court overturns the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling, the Leatherman terminal won’t be used by the big ships for which it was built. Whatever the decision, the court’s ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and will result in at least another year of litigation.

It is also worth noting that the governor’s appointees who run the SPA gave over half of the more than $6 million in bonuses to their white-collar staff in 2021. Larger bonus checks than usual were from the additional container traffic due to the pandemic, which included a $336,875 bonus to past-president Jim Newsom, who left office with $1.1 million. Current president and CEO Barbra Melvin took home $615,333, which included her $18k country club dues and $11,000 car allowance. Eleven more executives with annual salaries topping a quarter-million received five-digit bonuses.

Since state agencies aren’t required to divulge salaries below $50,000, we can only guess how the remaining bonus money was shared with the SPA hourly wage earners. The Nerve, a publication of the conservative SC Policy Council, calculated the median bonus for wage workers was $2,555, much less than the executive staff’s $7,753 car allowance.

Let’s be clear. McMaster’s campaign to bust the ILA is just the latest example of this state’s strategy to recruit businesses and increase corporate profit by suppressing wages. During the 1980s, the state Department of Commerce paid to erect posters in northern airports with the slogan “SC Has No Labor Pains.” The posters featured a grinning, pregnant-looking man in a hardhat, a crude message to corporate interests that the Palmetto State’s business-friendly regulations will keep wages down and profits up.

The governor’s grandstanding against unions — on our dime, no less — is just the latest assault on working people. Twenty years ago, the SC legislature supported the first wave of pre-emptive laws to stop things that weren’t even happening. In 2002, South Carolina was one of five states with no minimum wage. We were the first to pass a law to prevent local governments from establishing a minimum wage above the federal minimum, which has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. In 2012, the same national lobbyists, their S.C. counterparts, and the legislators they gave campaign donations pushed legislation through to prohibit local governments from requiring any employee benefits, such as sick leave, as a condition to get a business license.

Currently, 179 countries have laws requiring paid sick leave. The United States is not one of them. In 2017, McMaster signed a law that prohibits even unpaid sick leave or any other employee benefit as a requirement to do business in South Carolina. 

During the worst phases of the pandemic, when the CDC and DHEC were advising the public to wear masks, the governor took his cues from the Hospitality and Retail Association rather than health professionals. He issued an executive order that allowed business owners to fire employees who wanted to mask up and made them ineligible for unemployment compensation they had earned. This most certainly endangered workers, and may have cost lives.

The governor and his well-organized, low-wage worshipping benefactors have long preyed on the unorganized workers of South Carolina. If they prevail in their quest to break one of the nation’s oldest and largest Black unions, the quality of life for workers here will be poorer, and the value of our lives further cheapened.

If the governor wins, we all lose.