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September 15, 2011 in Business, Nation/World
House to vote on bill targeting Boeing labor case
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are poised to express their anger over the government’s politically contentious labor case against Boeing Co. by passing a measure that would curb the National Labor Relation Board’s enforcement powers.
The bill would prohibit the agency from ordering an employer to shut down plants or relocate jobs, even if a company illegally retaliates against unionized employees by moving work.
Republican lawmakers say the board should not have the power to dictate where a private business can locate. Union leaders claim the bill would render toothless the board’s ability to enforce labor laws when companies simply eliminate work to get rid of employees who are pro-union.
The bill is likely to pass the GOP-controlled House easily today but isn’t expected to get far in the Senate, where Democratic leaders have no plans to let it come to a vote. It will serve as an issue for congressional and presidential candidates in the 2012 elections.
GOP lawmakers have vilified the NLRB for filing a complaint in April that alleges Boeing punished union workers in Washington state when it opened a new production line for its 787 airplane in South Carolina, a right-to-work state.
South Carolina Republican Rep. Tim Scott, who sponsored the bill, says the board’s action threatens 1,100 jobs in his hometown of Charleston.
“My legislation will remove the NLRB’s ability to kill jobs,” Scott said. “The government, especially the unelected board, does not need to be involved in the business decision of the private sector.”
Republicans and their allies in the business community have gone after the NLRB for more than a year, as the agency has issued a spate of union-friendly decisions and rules. The Boeing case has become a major political issue and a rallying cry for GOP presidential candidates courting voters in South Carolina’s early primary stakes.
Democrats say the measure would give companies a free pass to punish employees for simply exercising their rights to organize.
“The bill before us guts the very fundamental rights of American workers to fight for better wages and working conditions and it makes it easier for companies to outsource American jobs overseas,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
Boeing has denied the allegations, saying it opened the Charleston, S.C., plant for valid economic reasons. The case is pending before an administrative law judge in Seattle and could last years.
The complaint by the board’s acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, does not seek to shut down the Boeing plant. The company would be required to move the new 787 production line to Washington state. But Boeing officials say the South Carolina facility was built specifically for construction of the 787. The company says a ruling for the government would effectively require Boeing to close the $750 million plant and lay off more than a thousand new workers there.
Solomon said the decision to file a complaint was not politically motivated, but based strictly on evidence that Boeing violated the law. He said Boeing executives made a number of public statements indicating the new plant was built in South Carolina out of frustration over costly strikes by the Machinists union in Washington state, including a 58-day work stoppage in 2008.
“The decision had absolutely nothing to do with political considerations, and there were no consultations with the White House,” Solomon said in a statement this week. “Regrettably, some have chosen to insert politics into what should be a straightforward legal procedure.”
Boeing officials claim the board took the statements out of context and say they can point to a number of legitimate reasons for locating the new production line in Charleston.
President Barack Obama has not taken a formal position on the case, saying he is reluctant to interfere with an independent government agency. Obama has said companies need to have the freedom to relocate but must follow the law when doing so.
© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Dirt: Kalispels to open second Fatburger 
The_Seer on September 15 at 9:00 a.m.
This GOP led House of Representatives almost always mistakes activity for achievement. Why this posturing when so many issues in the U.S. need to be addressed? People will remember their neglect next November. Believe it.
Boeing would probably not be around anymore except for the money it receives in defense contracts. The war machine, at taxpayer expense, keeps them alive but Boeing wishes to decrease the amount of taxes coming into the federal coffers by moving well paying jobs into regions where people will work for an armload of sticks a day to heat their corn pone and pot liquor.
dataxman on September 15 at 9:11 a.m.
wow seer - racist much?
IHike4Fun on September 15 at 9:11 a.m.
To say Boeing can’t set up shop in South Carolina is not in the authority of the NLRB. I don’t think anyone has such authority in a free enterprise system. Unless we’ve become a dictatorship and I missed the announcement…
ericdx on September 15 at 9:32 a.m.
They file this action, but nothing about the actions of US companies for YEARS that have outsourced jobs. Lets see actions on those first, and then take shots at Boeing.
The_Seer on September 15 at 9:40 a.m.
data tax: Yeah, I was hard on all the white trash in the south. My bad.
The_Seer on September 15 at 9:42 a.m.
Ihike4fun: You are right. Boeing had a right to move a plant to South Carolina. They didn’t have a right to do so in retaliation for what unions gained during collective bargaining. That’s the federal law, one that has been around for decades, the Boeing broke and now the Tea Bag house wants to ignore.
fhstorey on September 15 at 9:52 a.m.
I”m happy to know that Boeing isn’t run by an idiot. General Motors claimed there was no plan B. That guy wasn’t worth the $1 a year he supposedly worked for. Has anyone looked at the strike activity against Boeing in Washington? We work in global markets, not ones where we can put up with headstrong labor leaders dictating the flow of world competition. Boeing is going to have to spread production flows to favorable environments, not dance to the wims of some guy in Everett, Washington. Nor are the decisions ones that Washington D.C. has any business making.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on September 15 at 9:53 a.m.
corn pone + pot liquor = hillbillies, not [necessarily] blacks.
cdspokesreader on September 15 at 10:26 a.m.
I don’t understand why a company can’t move it’s business somewhere where they will continue to make a profit. If employees want too much money, why can’t the business go to another area where they can pay less money for the labor. At least they didn’t go to China or Mexico!
Dazzeetrader11 on September 15 at 10:53 a.m.
Boeing isn’t moving a plant Be clear. They are build a de novo plant in South Carolina…it’s built, up and running.
Obama, with his lust for paying off unions for votes, stocked the NLRB with union officials…some during recess so as to avaoid a vote.
NLRB is now a political tool for Obama. I can guarantee all of you that if Boeing is prohibited from fully opening that plant in SC, there will be job loss…..plenty of job loss…..plenty of NO job creation (real job creation..not the Obama type). I also think Boeing’s next move will be to a plant in China where they don’t face obstruction by the Dems, Obama and his Labor Unions. Penalize and harrass job creators and they stop or leave. Obama knows this.
On a lesser scale NLRB is causing this to occur elsewhere as well. Obama, once again, says one thing (we want jobs from the R’s!) but sets thing up to defeat job growth and creation. Vote this bum out. He’s done everything he can to defeat the US from within…..this is just another example. Comcast 27 in Spokane is carrying the debate.
Charlie on September 15 at 10:53 a.m.
In the past few years, Boeing has added thousands of new workers in the Seattle area. The South Carolina plant is strictly economics 101, unfortunately, if the Obama regime wins, the next move Boeing makes will be in China.
CougarGold on September 15 at 11:21 a.m.
My, how the world has changed….emerging nations, emerging workforces, global competition, and yet, so many in our country are trying to catch up by running backwards. If unions want to force an improved national presence, they should maybe take a play from multi-national companies and expand their influence to where those jobs are being created. Perhaps then, the playing field might level a bit by having global labor costs increase closer to our levels rather than have ours decrease to theirs. Instead they keep trying to push the rope uphill and try to force economics against the flow of the consumer/labor markets rather than work with the flow and modify the reality in a way that doesn’t cause as much harm. What always struck me as a true irony is this: How many union workers in our country buy a majority of goods from Walmart or similar stores?
Dazzeetrader11 on September 15 at 12:11 p.m.
CougarGold….think the unions would be welcome in China?…or any emerging country? I don’t. They’ve tried in Europe and were met with cold reception. They have entire socialist parties (as in Democratic Reform Parties) that like them in some countries. Germany, Italy, etc. Who would pay these wages or benefits??? Certainly no company that wants to succeed.
I do think Beoing should be able to build and operate a plant wherever it wants. Boeing picked SC for several reasons…the biggest of which is the “right to work” for the workers but moreso, the State welcomed them as a job provider. Whenever jobs are provided, goods and services pick up tremendously. With that comes an expanding tax base. Enlightened states understand that. Olympia is riddled with people that don’t want to face the music as is the County and, of course, Verner in Spokane.
The County is restructuring its agreements with the unions. It has to….it’s that or go broke. In Washington St., it’ll be a tougher slog considering the Longview case. It has to happen though or Washington becomes a nice place to live…not much else. Heck look around SPokane! What’s going on there? Not much…why? greenies have control of the Council and the Mayor has simply not done much for business except raise taxes. Cities die off when that happens. Vote in November and things will change…look at the West Plains that the County controls…expansion because of enlightened leadership.
Spokane City needs a total change in leadership or it will continue to wither.
jddavis on September 15 at 1:51 p.m.
Well said CougarGold.
gotcha on September 15 at 2:18 p.m.
Seer must be one of those Public Sector employees sucking down the tax dollars.. GOP Congress gained 2 seats yesterday. With any luck the Progressives are going to take many more hits in the 2012 elections. They won’t be missed.
dataxman on September 15 at 5:23 p.m.
Seer - you’re right, I should have said ‘Bigoted much?’ in relation to your post.
You are a racist based on living where you do so that was redundant…
wobble506 on September 15 at 5:56 p.m.
What WA is missing out is the 1800 jobs and the 4-5 service jobs that crop up for each manufacturing job.
What that really means, is those idiots in the Unions just cost WA about 9,000 -10,000 jobs. Hmm, that would go a long way to balancing our deficit everyone is screaming about.
Its time to pull the plug on Unions, which are nothing but leaches on society at this point.
Then you have the unions blocking ports, destroying RR equipment, and dumping grain on the ground. Oh, those grain trains are being routed to Canada temporarily. More jobs gone due to Union thuggery.
Union teachers breaking the law, and striking in Tacoma. More Union criminal activity.
Time to close the unions down. No one needs “help” like that anymore. They served their purpose, time for them to go away
The_Seer on September 16 at 9:54 a.m.
I’m a racist now? A public sector employee? Just because I support the rule of law? What?