The Boeing Co. and its unions got some attention last night during the 2012 Republican National Convention in Florida.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley praised the jet maker for selecting North Charleston as the site of Boeing’s second 787 final assembly line.
But it’s 2009 pick of South Carolina over Washington state, where its other jet production lines are located, landed Boeing in hot water with its local Machinists union. The union considered Boeing’s move retribution for a 2008 labor strike and complained to the National Labor Relations Board, which filed a federal lawsuit early last year.
Haley called the lawsuit “shameful” during her speech Tuesday night. She chastised President Barack Obama and his allies, the “bullying union bosses” at Boeing, while lauding GOP candidate Mitt Romney.
Of the lawsuit: “We’re fighters in South Carolina. …And guess what? We won,” Haley said.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers asked the NLRB to drop the lawsuit last year after Boeing agreed to keep work on its upgraded 737 MAX in Washington state.
On Wednesday, a Charleston-area news station published this reality check on Haley’s speech.
Haley’s speech at the Republican convention (references to Boeing begin at about 4:20):
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