South Carolina Emerges As Next Labor Flashpoint In Boeing Dispute

[Blue_Tires]

An ugly spat between a huge corporation, organized labor, the White House, and a Tea Party governor whose union-busting rhetoric would make Chris Christie blush, is becoming the next national flashpoint in this year's ongoing war on unions.

The dispute centers around a planned Boeing airplane production line for its 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina using nonunion labor. The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint earlier this month looking to halt operation of the new plant after members of the International Association of Machinists at Boeing's Washington state production line claimed the decision to expand outside the state was retaliation for previous strikes. The NLRB is demanding that Boeing open a second production line in labor-friendly Washington state.

Boeing responded that because the corporation is not closing its Puget Sound plant, the retaliation claims are "legally frivolous." Boeing recently issued a further statement claiming it would have opened its South Carolina line regardless of labor conditions in Washington state. The case will come before an administrative law judge in June and Boeing can appeal that decision in federal court if it doesn't go its way.

Given that the NLRB languished under the Bush administration -- at one point the AFL-CIO called for it to be shut down -- the NLRB's complaint represented a coming out party of sorts for the revamped agency.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/south-carolina-emerges-as-next-labor-flashpoint.php

[pscot]

1. That's why they built a plant there

Everything Boeing management has done in the last 15 yeears has been about taking down the unions.