Marathon Pundit: Today's NLRB-Boeing update

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Today's NLRB-Boeing update

Boeing headquarters, Chicago

Here's the latest on the NLRB-Boeing story.

From the Charleston Regional Business Journal:

The House Oversight Committee is requiring the National Labor Relations Board to hand over documents by Friday about its complaint against Boeing Co. and its investigation of union election laws in four states — including South Carolina.

Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Reps. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., sent Lafe Solomon, acting general council of the NLRB, a letter May 12 requesting four categories of information:

■Materials relating to the investigation of Boeing, including communications from the Office of the General Counsel and the NLRB
■Documents, emails, call logs and communications among the office, the NLRB and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
■Documents, emails, call logs and communications among the office, the NLRB and Boeing
■Documents related to investigations of union election laws in Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah, all of which have passed amendments requiring secret ballot votes for union elections.

Pro-union radicals Craig Becker and Lafe Solomon were placed on the NLRB by President Obama utilizing recess appointments. From Politico:

Senate conservatives asked House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday to try to block President Obama from making recess appointments for the remainder of his presidency.

In a letter, the group of 20 senators implored Boehner to refuse to adopt any resolution that would allow the Senate to stand in recess for more than three days.

Under the Constitution, neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other chamber.

The Constitution does not prescribe how many days the president must wait to make a recess appointment, but traditionally the chief executive refrains from making an appointment during a break of less than four days so that he avoids the perception that he wants to end-run the Senate confirmation process.

Sunshine State Review:

Amid continued concern over the economy, a national survey finds that voters -- including union households -- see federal government regulations as a threat to recovery.

A poll of 1,000 registered voters by the conservative advocacy group Resurgent Republic found that by a margin of 55 percent to 36 percent, voters are more concerned that the federal government has too many regulations that will hurt the economy, rather than too few regulations to hold private businesses accountable.

Republicans are more concerned about too many regulations by 77-16, as are independents by 55-35. Only Democrats are concerned about too few regulations, by 56-36.

Even a majority of union households worry about too many federal regulations:

53 to 39 percent among all union households;
57 to 34 percent among private-sector unions;
48 to 44 percent among public-sector unions.

The Washington Times:

House Republicans are fighting back against President Obama's misuse of administrative power to punish right-to-work states. On Tuesday, Rep. Tim Scott introduced legislation to protect a Boeing 787 Dreamliner production plant in his South Carolina district from the outrageous complaint filed by pro-union thugs at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The agency wants to force the airline manufacturer to close up operations in Charleston and move the jobs to Puget Sound, where the labor bosses reign, because setting up in South Carolina was allegedly an example of "unfair labor practices."

The Job Protection Act would, if enacted, clarify that federal law gives the NLRB no power to decide where any U.S. company should or should not do business. "For the NLRB to punish a company for locating in a right-to-work state is an abuse of federal executive power," Mr. Scott explained to The Washington Times' Emily Miller. "This administration has clearly overstepped its bounds through the inappropriate actions of an unelected regulatory board."

Mr. Scott's district would take a big hit if the plant, which is slated to open for production in July, were to close its doors. The facility would create at least 4,000 direct hires from Boeing and an estimated 4,000 indirect hires. Local suppliers and others firms in nearby communities would also receive a boost from the large production order. "Unemployment in South Carolina is above 9 percent," Mr. Scott said. "This isn't helping." Mr. Scott called for Mr. Obama to fire the man responsible for the decision, NLRB acting general counsel Lafe Solomon, saying, "Taxpayers should not be paying a salary for someone whose actions are destroying jobs."

House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline, Minnesota Republican, has been trying to secure documents from the NLRB related to the Boeing case. So far he has received a short reply and no documents from the agency. "The NLRB is not immune from congressional oversight or public scrutiny," Mr. Kline said in a statement. The committee is requesting information on the Boeing case because "there are legitimate questions over public statements made by NLRB officials and the timing of its complaint." The NLRB needs to come clean on how and why it has taken action against Boeing.