The Boeing Co. is trying to use its political clout to thwart a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board, said the company’s Machinists’ union on Wednesday.
The Machinists were responding to a letter sent Tuesday by Boeing to the labor board’s general counsel, who has accused the company of retaliating against the Machinists union here in Washington by locating a second 787 line in South Carolina.
In his letter, Boeing’s general counsel J. Michael Luttig said the labor board had based its complaint on “misquotations and mischaracterizations.” Luttig also alleged that the labor board’s general counsel, Lafe Solomon, previously had said he wouldn’t take action against the company if it didn’t eliminate jobs here in the Puget Sound region as a result of establishing a line in South Carolina.
The Machinists labeled Luttig’s letter “an unprecedented attack on a federal law enforcement agency.” They noted that U.S. senators friendly to Boeing also are challenging the labor board’s Solomon, who also has received a letter from nine state attorneys general asking him to withdraw the complaint against Boeing.
“In my 28 years of practicing labor law, I have never seen an employer use these types of overtly political tactics to avoid a legal proceeding,” said David Campbell, local Machinists’ lawyer, in a press statement.
A hearing on the complaint has been set for June 14 in Seattle.
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