NLRB overreach, beginning of August edition

The months change, but the NLRB overreach continues.

From the Charleston Regional Business Journal:

The National Labor Relations Board has again refused to release documents from its Boeing case file, which prompt the House oversight committee to threaten subpoenas if the documents are not released within 24 hours.

In May, the House oversight committee announced an investigation into the NLRB complaint against Boeing and requested documents from the government agency.

Since the request, the labor relations board released some documentation while arguing other requested information should remain confidential because the case is ongoing. A hearing before an administrative law judge began in June.

In July, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote the NLRB and requested the missing documents. Issa is the committee's chairman.

The Times and Dispatch:

THE ISSUE: NLRB vs. Boeing; OUR OPINION: Congressman Scott not waiting on courts to have final say

A favorite outcry among politicians is directed at courts and regulatory agencies whose rulings are seen as making new law. From the local to the national levels, laws are to be made by the legislative branch. Courts interpret laws to determine whether they pass constitutional measure. If they do, then it matters not whether a judge or judges like the legislation. On the regulatory front, agencies are supposed to live within the narrow bounds of their authority to regulate.

The National Labor Relations Board is under scrutiny for its actions in the case of Boeing locating airplane-manufacturing facilities in North Charleston. The agency has sided with the Machinists Union in contending that Boeing's decision to locate new manufacturing facilities in South Carolina was an illegal action taken against the labor organization. The NLRB has Boeing in court, where a judge will ultimately rule whether the airline maker can continue to operate in South Carolina or be forced to move the Dreamliner manufacturing to Washington state.

Lawmakers from South Carolina have said a ruling that would force Boeing to abandon the state is unthinkable for the future of business in this country. We agree.

Townhall:

For its part, Big Labor—the sine qua non of the Obama administration—has held up vital trade deals that would give a boost to domestic manufacturers, small and large. It continues to demand job-killing card check, first by legislation and now by regulation. Big Labor was, as many will remember, the cornerstone of power for Yeomans’ former employer, Kennedy—making his terrorist allegations all the more shocking.

Perhaps most strange of all is that an anti-business agenda, propelled in part by the various and sundry anti-corporate Left—but primarily by organized labor—represents such a small portion of actual working Americans.

Most are familiar with labor's decline and that it now represents only about 7 percent of private sector workers. What many haven't recognized is that only 1.3 percent—a rounding error (or economic error)—of private sector workers in Right To Work states are members of a union. Yet it is organized labor's lobbyists that relentlessly pressure senators from those states to bend to the will of a small special interest.

The Seattle Times:

The Puget Sound economy has a crucial stake in Boeing continuing to build the 737 in Renton. These are jobs that cannot be replaced. They must stay here.

No one, least of all the International Association of Machinists, ought to dismiss CEO Jim McNerney's reminder that Boeing might assemble the 737 elsewhere. Whatever his objective — the 2012 labor contract, the case at the National Labor Relations Board, etc. — it pays to take him seriously. And don't expect him to be too clear about why he's saying this, because last time he did that, the union complained to the Labor Board.

People learn from their mistakes.

We hope the Machinists leadership has learned from its mistake in losing the second 787 line. Recall that to keep the line here, the company demanded a 10-year no-strike deal, with arbitration. The union countered with a demand that commercial airplane work stay here for the same period. Boeing rejected the union's demand. The union rejected Boeing's demand and the company announced for Charleston , S.C.

That was a loss for the region. A big loss. It was a loss for workers here, especially in the long run, and maybe for the union as an institution.

Technorati tags: labor unions organized laborDemocrats Obama business nlrb south carolina business Boeing aviation