Via Yves Smith, this peculiar story of a small town siding with a union against a corporation:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/11/town-may-seize-factory-to-prevent-dismantling-by-vengeful-owner.html http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6686/masters_of_eminent_domain_union_struggling_mass._town_take_on_aerospac/ --------------------------------snip The Fifth Amendment allows local governments to take control of private land for "public use." But too often the "public purpose"—as viewed by the U.S. Supreme Court—merely turns out to be enhanced private profits. A prime example is Detroit's destruction of the "Poletown" neighborhood in the 1980s to clear space for a GM plant subsidized with $350 million in public funds. Up until now, labor activists have sought to use eminent domain, but have found few good opportunities. But last week the City Council of Taunton, Mass., pushed by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers union, came close to using eminent domain for a genuine public purpose: to save family-supporting jobs in a struggling industrial town of 54,000. At its November 9 meeting, a majority of the Council's members voiced support for the move, but they delayed an official vote until next week to obtain a legal opinion on the matter. The UE is proving that eminent domain is a tool that can be wielded by workers and communities against corporate greed. The union is fighting to save 100 jobs at an operation that aerospace and defense giant Esterline Technologies wants to destroy, as I reported in September. Esterline is not content to merely close the plant. It is also intent on preventing the highly-skilled workforce from buying and operating the plant on their own or as a subsidiary of another firm. Esterline has announced that it no longer feels bound by its earlier promises to allow the workers the right of first refusal on buying the plant's equipment. In response, UE Local 204 members and their allies persuaded the Taunton City Council to invoke the eminent domain doctrine to block Esterline from selling off the plant's equipment. Esterline has set an auction for December 14 to dispose of all the machinery it does not want. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
