Friday, April 29, 2011

More media outrage on NLRB law inventing

The anger over the radicalized NLRB's exercise in law creation continues:

First the Detroit News:

The National Relations Board complaint against Boeing, seeking an order forbidding the aircraft maker from opening a non-union production line in South Carolina, must not be sustained. The economy can't withstand such paralyzing government interference in business decisions.

The NLRB issued the complaint on behalf of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union. The government agency said Boeing was moving part of its production away from Washington State in retaliation for previous strikes by some Boeing workers. The agency's lawyer agued that this limits the union's right to strike, which is illegal.

Boeing has vowed to fight the complaint. The next step, if there isn't a settlement, is a June hearing before an administrative law judge. Ultimately, the firm's recourse is to the federal courts.

The agency acted with typical government obliviousness to business needs. The company has already hired 1,000 workers and had planned to begin work on new 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina in July, the Wall Street Journal reports. The complaint and hearing process now freeze Boeing's production plans. This, of course, creates pressure on Boeing to settle.
Writing for the aforementioned Wall Street Journal, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley weighs in:

Boeing has since poured billions of dollars into a new, state-of-the art facility in South Carolina's picturesque Low Country along the Atlantic coast. It has created thousands of good jobs and joined the long tradition of distinguished and employee-friendly corporations that have found a home, and a partner, in the Palmetto State.

This a win-win for South Carolina, for Boeing, and for the global clients who will see Dreamliners rolling off the North Charleston line at the rate of 10 a month, starting with the first one next year. But, as is often the case, a win for people and businesses is a loss for the labor unions, which rely on coercion, bullying and undue political influence to stay afloat.

South Carolina is a right-to-work state, and we're proud that within our borders workers cannot be required to join a labor union as a condition of employment. We don't need unions playing middlemen between our companies and our employees. We don't want them forcefully inserted into our promising business climate. And we will not stand for them intimidating South Carolinians.

That is apparently too much for President Obama and his union-beholden appointees at the National Labor Relations Board, who have asked the courts to intervene and force Boeing to stop production in South Carolina. The NLRB wants Boeing to produce the planes only in Washington state, where its workers must belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Bloomberg:

The National Labor Relations Board should "withdraw immediately" a complaint against Boeing Co. (BA) that alleges the company retaliated against union employees, attorneys general in nine states said in a letter.

The board's action, citing Boeing's decision to open a 787 aircraft assembly line in South Carolina, is an "assault" on the ability of the states to create jobs, according to the letter released today.

"Our states are trying to emerge from one of the worst economic collapses since the Depression," South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson wrote in the letter signed by eight colleagues. "Your complaint further impairs an economic recovery."

The board last week said Boeing chose South Carolina, a state that bans labor agreements that require workers to join a union, over keeping the work in Washington state because it was "motivated by a desire to retaliate for past strike and chill future strike activity." Boeing executives had said they were concerned about strikes by employees, according to the complaint.
Fox News:

"This complaint represents an assault upon the constitutional right of free speech, and the ability of our states to create jobs and recruit industry. Your ill-conceived retaliatory action seeks to destroy our citizens' right to work," the letter from the attorneys general reads.

The NLRB complaint attempts to keep Boeing from building 787 airliners in the Palmetto State plant, not shut it down. But the company designed the facility to produce three of those type of airplanes each month.

Some have called the NLRB action unprecedented, and South Carolina officials have expressed anger and fear that it could stymie growth. Attorneys general from Virginia, Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arizona and Oklahoma joined South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson in signing Thursday's letter to voice their concerns that NLRB interference could hinder economic growth in their states too.
Related posts:

Obama's radical NLRB: Killing off right-to-work
Two newspapers sound off on NLRB overreach in Boeing case
Media scolds NLRB for inventing labor law in Boeing case
More media scolding of NLRB for inventing labor law in Boeing case
Pawlenty rips NLRB overreach in Boeing case
From Sen. Lamar Alexander: The White House vs. Boeing, a Tennessee tale

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