“One thing we do not need is more labor unions,” he said. “We have gotten where we are without them, and we do not need them now. … We have worked hard and carefully — through education, training and business recruitment — to earn our record prosperity, and we will continue to preserve and enhance it.”

He blamed unions for crippling the economies of other cities and states and, he said, with their numbers dropping unions are eyeing the prosperous Southeast for new members.

“Our aerospace, vehicle and tire manufacturers are no longer the sole targets for labor organizers,” he said. “Our thriving hospitality and tourism industry along our coast now finds itself a target. It seems that no business or employee in South Carolina is safe from the disingenuous campaigns and destructive impacts of union infiltration.

No one should bargain their prosperity under threats of union boycotts or coercive pressure campaigns. We will not let our state’s economy suffer or become collateral damage as labor unions seek to consume new jobs and conscript new dues-paying members. And we will not allow the Biden administration’s pro-union policies to chip away at South Carolina’s sovereign interests. We will fight. All the way to the gates of hell. And we will win."