In fact, Georgia's rate of union membership is only 6.3 percent. When employers come here, they treat their people with respect, so employees don't feel the need for unions,'' he said. But a history of management wielding an iron fist hasn't hurt. The Textile Workers' Strike of 1934, caused by management wanting employees to work overtime for the same pay, set the tone for decades to come. Mr. Shea said.
Companies look at unions, but they also look at elections and work stoppages.
On a whole we have a very positive labor-management relationship in metro Augusta.'' Only a few efforts to organize in traditionally union fields have succeeded in Augusta. Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Co., which mines kaolin in Langley, S.C., and Sandersville, Ga., went union this year. Amity Dyeing and Finishing in Augusta, which produced Liz Claiborne clothing, went union in March 1996 but went under a year later. An attorney who represented Amity said the plant closing was not a direct result of unionization, but rather a reflection of the company's long-term financial woes. Both instances led to new employee contracts.