Records demanded in Boeing case

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The chairman of a congressional committee investigating the ongoing labor dispute over a South Carolina Boeing plant is prepared to use subpoenas to force labor officials to hand over documents from their investigation, according to a letter sent Tuesday to the National Labor Relations Board’s chief attorney.

In the letter to NLRB general counsel Lafe Solomon, Republican U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California argues that Congress has the right to supersede attorney-client privilege in gathering information about the communications between the NLRB and Boeing, as well as the union that represents Boeing workers in Washington state.

The NLRB sued Chicago-based Boeing Co. in April, saying the aeronautics giant illegally retaliated against unionized Washington state workers when it opened a 787 passenger jet manufacturing line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state. Boeing already makes the planes in the Seattle area, and the company hopes more than 1,000 nonunion workers will eventually build three of the aircraft per month at the $750 million South Carolina plant, the largest industrial investment in the state’s history.

Specifically, Issa asks Solomon to turn over his office’s communications about the Boeing case, including any messages with NLRB officials, other federal agencies or members of Congress. Issa says he also wants emails and call logs between the NLRB and Boeing, as well as NLRB’s communications with the International Association of Machinists, the union that operates at Boeing’s Washington state facilities.

“Attorney-client privilege is a judicially-developed policy intended to foster client confidence and encourage full disclosure to an attorney in anticipation of an adversarial setting,” Issa wrote. “However, the need to protect this interest in an investigative setting where a congressional committee is not adjudicating the liberty or property interests of a witness is less compelling. … Therefore, attorney-client privilege claims can be overcome by Congress.”

Issa gives Solomon until July 26 to turn over the records or face a possible subpoena. An NLRB spokeswoman declined to comment on the request, and Solomon has said in previous communications to Issa that releasing some documents related to the case would compromise the case.

The labor case could drag on for years, and a Seattle judge has begun hearing arguments. Boeing has denied the charge, saying it opened the South Carolina plant for valid economic reasons.