Marathon Pundit: NLRB overreach: Baseless edition

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

NLRB overreach: Baseless edition

Des Plaines, Illinois

The overreach continues. And once again, we look at Boeing's struggle with the NLRB.

From Columbia, South Carolina's The State:

The National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against Boeing, an action triggered by the company's decision to build its new production line in right-to-work South Carolina instead of its unionized home of Washington state, is "meritless" and "baseless," the company's new South Carolina lobbyist said Monday following an appearance at the Columbia Rotary Club.

The NLRB sued Boeing, saying the company built its second production line in South Carolina in retaliation against unions. Boeing has denied that claim. But, John Moloney, now the company's senior director for state and local government here, offered no other insight into the progress of the suit, saying the company is not commenting because the issue is still in litigation.

Moloney, who previously served as the company's Director of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C., said the company’s new 787 Dreamliner was a "game-changer' in the industry. A new composite high-tech plastic fuselage makes the plane lighter than the aircraft it will replace, saving airlines fuel. It also promises passengers more comfort with features such as bigger windows and larger luggage bins.

Boeing last month rolled out the first 787 in Washington to All Nippon Airways. Moloney said the first plane will be completed in its North Charleston plant some time in 2012.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press speaks with one of Tennessee's senators about the overreach.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., today called the National Labor Relations Board "totally out of control," citing the panel's complaint related to a Boeing aircraft assembly line in South Carolina.

"This is not even good for union folks," Corker told the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association annual meeting. "It doesn't even work well for labor."

From Hot Air:

GOP moves to ensure secret ballot union elections

From the Publius Forum:

New bill introduced to roll back Obama's anti-business NLRB rules

An independent NLRB? No. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Internal National Labor Relations Board e-mails that Judicial Watch had to file a lawsuit to obtain make plain that the Obama NLRB is no neutral arbiter but a Big Labor puppet and tool.

The e-mails concern the NLRB's contention that Boeing Co. located its new Dreamliner plant in right-to-work South Carolina as retaliation for past International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) strikes against its Washington state facilities.

It's a case that threatens all U.S. businesses' freedom to locate where they please. Just two of those e-mails, both dated May 5, suffice to portray an NLRB in thrall to organized labor.

In one, an NLRB attorney advises against reading a pro-Boeing, anti-compulsory-unionism Wall Street Journal article because "you'll puke." In another, the NLRB's associate general counsel cheers for an IAM press release attacking Boeing: "Hooray for the red, white and blue."

And now over to rats. From Politico:

The conservative pro-business group Americans for Job Security will air an ad timed to the Republican debate in New Hampshire this evening, taking aim at "greedy union bosses" that it says are holding back economic recovery.

The ad, which was shared early with Politico, will run before, during and after the Washington Post/Bloomberg debate. It coincides with other AJS activities around the debate, which include placing a giant inflatable rat outside the debate site.