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.

FMI: www.nlrb.gov, www.boeing.com