Marathon Pundit: NLRB overreach: Continuation edition

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

NLRB overreach: Continuation edition

Boeing headquarters, Chicago

Just because the NLRB has dropped its goofy case against Boeing doesn't mean its overreach has ended.

In fact, there may be two new players on the field.

From The Hill:

Republican senators have asked President Obama not to recess appoint his two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

In a letter sent to the president on Monday, all 47 GOP senators said he should allow the Senate to consider his nominees, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin.

"We are writing to urge you not to undermine the Senate’s advice and consent role by attempting to place your recently announced nominees to National Labor Relations Board, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, in those positions through recess appointments. Moreover, we urge to instead allow for a full and thorough review of their qualifications through regular order in the Senate," the letter states.

Block is a former aide to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and a senior Labor Department official who used to work at the NLRB. Griffin is the general counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers. Obama nominated them to the board last week.

The Savannah Morning News:

On Monday, Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss and 10 of his colleagues sent President Obama a letter, urging him to withdraw the nomination of Lafe Solomon, acting general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.

That's the same federal board that took unprecedented action by filing a complaint against Boeing, which wanted to expand its aircraft production in South Carolina, a non-union state.

After Boeing made concessions to union workers in the state of Washington, where its main production lines are located, the NLRB called off the attack dogs against the company. However, Mr. Solomon bragged to the Associated Press that he would repeat his high-handed tactics "if we were ever faced with a similar pattern."

Such dictatorial thinking has no place within the NLRB. It's supposed to be an unbiased, adjudicating body that protects the rights of employees and employers. It's not a tool of organized labor.

The Charleston Business Journal:

The House Oversight Committee is continuing its investigation into the National Labor Relations Board despite the board's dismissal of a complaint against the Boeing Co. in early December, when the aerospace company’s labor union ratified a new labor deal in Washington state.

The House Oversight Committee notified the National Labor Relations Board that its investigation into the board's complaint against the Boeing Co. will continue.

The committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, informed the NLRB of its decision in a letter last Wednesday to Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon.

Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB, issued this statement: "The agency has cooperated with Chairman Issa and committee staff from the beginning, and will continue to do so."

The oversight committee began its investigation in May, when it requested documentation about the NLRB’s complaint against Boeing for opening a 787 final assembly and delivery center in North Charleston. Since then, the committee held a hearing in North Charleston and traded letters with the NLRB, which withheld some documents because of the pending complaint.