Judge denies Boeing’s request; labor complaint moves forward

Published 1:14 pm Thursday, June 30, 2011

A federal labor complaint against the Boeing Co. will go forward after an administrative law judge denied on Thursday the company’s request to drop the complaint.

The National Labor Relations Board has accused Boeing of retaliating against its Machinists for strikes in Washington when the company decided to establish a second 787 line in South Carolina. The labor board’s general counsel has recommended that Boeing put a second 787 assembly line in Everett to remedy its alleged wrongdoing. The case is being heard in Seattle.

Boeing attorneys had asked Judge Clifford H. Anderson to dismiss the labor board’s complaint on the first day of the hearing earlier this month, saying that no harm had been done to Machinists in the Puget Sound region by the company’s decision to build a new factory in South Carolina. Boeing opened that factory earlier this month.

On Thursday, however, Anderson ruled that Boeing’s motion to dismiss is “without merit and should be denied in its entirety.”

While the 21-page ruling comes before any evidence has been presented or testimony heard in the case, Anderson appeared to agree with two of the NLRB’s main points. One was that labor law may be violated even though the work was new rather than being taken away from existing workers. The second is that the proposed remedy of moving the new production line back to Washington is not necessarily too harsh.

The lawsuit against Chicago-based Boeing has drawn outrage from Republicans who claim it interferes with the right of company managers to choose where and how to expand business operations. President Barack Obama strongly hinted on Wednesday that Boeing and the Machinists union should be able to settle their differences. Obama said companies should generally have the freedom to relocate, though they must follow the law when doing so.

A Boeing spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the ruling.

Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for the local Machinists union, was pleased the judge rejected Boeing’s request.

“This reaffirms what we have said all along – that Boeing provided no facts or legal basis as to why the case should be dismissed,” Kelliher said. “The case will now proceed to a trial, as it should, on its merits.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.