Sat, Dec 10, 2011
Final Step In Resolution Of Dispute Over Boeing's 787 South
Carolina Assembly Plant
The NLRB has closed its case against Boeing filed by the
Machinists union which was fighting the planemaker's plans to
construct 787 Dreamliners in South Carolina, a right to work state.
The issue had become a focal point for conservatives who said the
company should have a right to assemble its airplanes where it make
the most business sense to do so. The machinists had brought the
charges saying Boeing was retaliating against labor unions who had
stopped work in the planemaker's Pacific Northwest operations in
the past.
The machinists had requested the the labor board drop the case
after it reached an agreement with Boeing on a new four-year
contract which keeps assembly of the new B737 MAX airplane in
Washington State.
"I am very happy to announce that my office has approved the
withdrawal of a charge by the Machinists union against the Boeing
Co., which brings our case in this matter to an end," Acting
General Counsel Lafe Solomon said in a statement Friday.
"The union asked to withdraw the charge following the ratification
of a four-year collective bargaining agreement between its members
and Boeing earlier this week. Based on that request, the
administrative law judge presiding over the case dismissed the
complaint and remanded the case to our regional office in Seattle
for further processing. This morning, Regional Director Richard
Ahearn approved the union’s written request to withdraw the
charge, and the case is now closed.
"This is the outcome we have always preferred, and one that is
typical for our agency. About 90% of meritorious NLRB cases are
resolved as a result of agreements between the parties or
settlements with the agency before the conclusion of
litigation.
"One of the stated goals of the National Labor Relations Act is to
foster collective bargaining and productive labor-management
relations. From the beginning of this case, and at every step in
the process, we have encouraged the parties to find a
mutually-acceptable resolution that protects the rights of workers
under federal labor law. The parties’ collective
bargaining agreement, ratified this week, does just that.
"After we issued complaint in April, and as the trial began in
June, the parties came to realize that their mutual success
required a new approach. The result is a contract that helps
guarantee their success and creates job security for workers. I am
pleased that the collective bargaining process has succeeded and
that the parties have begun a promising new chapter in their
relationship."
The Hill reports that Boeing spokesman Tim Neale said that the
company had maintained all along that the complaint was "without
merit, and that the best course of action would be for it to be
dropped."
However Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said he would continue
an investigation into the actions of the NLRB. "NLRB’s record
of rogue action and lack of transparency with the public and
Congress in this case--and in others--has raised serious questions
that remain unanswered," he said in a statement. And South Carolina
Republican Senator Jim DeMint issued a statement saying that the
move proves that the charges were politically motivated. "A
precedent has been set by the NLRB that they will attack businesses
in forced-unionism states that try to create jobs in right-to-work
states," he said.
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