Marathon Pundit: NLRB overreach, neighbor edition

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

NLRB overreach, neighbor edition

The NLRB-Boeing controversy moves next door, to North Carolina.

From the Civitas Institute:

Raleigh, N.C. – Amidst the heated debate between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), 67 percent of North Carolina voters think Gov. Bev Perdue should take action to prevent the NLRB from interfering with jobs here.

Recently the NLRB, an independent federal agency whose members are appointed by the President, filed suit against the Boeing Corporation saying they should not be allowed to open a new factory in neighboring South Carolina instead of in Washington State. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and 15 other governors sent a letter to the NLRB asking it to dismiss its complaint against Boeing.

Sixty-seven percent of voters polled said they think Gov. Perdue should take similar action to prevent the NLRB from interfering in North Carolina’s job creation efforts in the future. Sixteen percent said they do not think the governor should act and 18 percent said they do not know. Further analysis reveals voters of all party affiliations think action should be taken: Republicans (77 percent), unaffiliated (75 percent), and Democrats (56 percent).

"With jobs, unemployment and the economy on everyone's mind, voters fear that actions like those of the NLRB will only hurt the economy and mean fewer jobs," said Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca.

Investor's Business Daily:

Big Labor: Union organizers reportedly are telling South Carolina Boeing workers they'll halt a National Labor Relations Board action to shut their plant as long as the workers join their union. What contempt for workers!

That's right, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the very union that's trying to put 1,000 workers out on the unemployment lines in Charleston, S.C., through a complaint filed through the National Labor Relations Board, is now trying to force workers to join their union anyway, says a report last week in the Daily Caller.

This is just the latest way the organization that proclaims itself the great defender of "the middle class" is not only making life bad for Boeing and businesses watching from the sidelines, but making life particularly miserable for workers by trying to impose something on them that they don't want.

South Carolina is a right-to-work state that Boeing chose as an ideal location for its new 787 Dreamliner assembly plant to employ 1,000 workers.

The "reaching out" by the IAM brings up two legal issues.

From Americans for Tax Reform:

1. Extortion - in order for an extortion offense to qualify under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, AIM must obtain something of value from Boeing employees with his or her consent induced by wrongful use of force, fear or threats.

AIM is clearly obtaining something of value - costly union dues - by use of force, fear, and threats - if they unionize, IAM leadership will get the NLRB to drop the controversial complaint.

Moreover, the political pressure from Washington, D.C. to South Carolina is building. U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy, R-SC, told the Daily Caller that AIM’s illegal and coercive behavior "would be highly improper if not illegal."

2. Dismissal - if the NLRB's general counsel is participating in talks with AIM to withdraw the complaint - the NLRB’s decision to issue a legal complaint that will potentially force the Boeing Company to relocate production of 787 Dreamliners would more than likely be dismissed by the Court.

Workforce Fairness Institute:

Recently, workers at a Hyatt hotel have been protesting their employer, lodging complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about unfair labor practices. The union, Unite Here, represents about 170 Park Hyatt employees involved in the complaint.

The owners of Hyatt hotels? The Pritzker family, a powerful family with long roots in the American business community, including Hyatt hotels and a number of other businesses, mostly in the travel and hospitality industry.

Here's where it gets interesting.

It seems that while President Obama cashes in on union boss dollars to get elected, and makes numerous moves to ‘payback' his union friends using the considerable bully pulpit of the White House, in this case he's hypocritical as usual. The reason? Penny Pritzker.

Pritzker serves on President Obama's Council for Jobs and Competitiveness and formerly a member of his Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Pritzker was the National Finance Chair of the Barack Obama for President.

During a one-day protest at Hyatt hotel, heat lamps were turned on adjacent to picketers on a very hot Chicago day.

Rep. John Mica (R-FL) has been a leading voice in putting the old air and rail industry union rule that a non-vote counts as a "no" back in place. Which leads Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to comment in the Washington Post:

"I share ... Chairman Mica's frustration that favors to organized labor have overshadowed the prospect for long-term FAA reauthorization. The House bill would merely undo a big partisan favor done at the behest of big labor. The House bill does not create a new hurdle to unionization. Instead, it restores the long-standing ability of airline employees to make decisions for themselves."