The attorneys general for nine states are demanding the National Labor Relations Board drop a complaint that alleges the Boeing Co. retaliated against its unionized machinists in siting its second 787 production line in South Carolina.
The labor board “attempts to sound the death knell” for nonunion states, the attorneys general wrote in a letter to the NLRB’s general counsel.
In 2009, Boeing picked North Charleston, S.C., over Washington state as home to a second 787 assembly line. That move, the NLRB alleges, was a retaliatory act against the company’s Machinists in the Puget Sound area for previous labor strikes. To remedy the matter, the labor board suggests Boeing establish a second line in Washington, despite the fact that Boeing is just months from opening a new facility in South Carolina.
A hearing on the matter has been set for June 14 in Seattle.
Alan Wilson, attorney general for South Carolina, is among those asking the labor board to throw out its complaint.
“The only justification for the NLRB’s unprecedented retaliatory action is to aid union survival,” Wilson wrote. “Your action seriously undermines our citizens’ right to work as well as their ability to compete globally.”
Boeing has said it will vigorously defend its decision to put a second 787 line in South Carolina instead of Washington. The company has noted that it has continued to add employees in the Puget Sound region as well as in North Charleston.
The local Machinists union initially complained to the labor board about Boeing’s decision shortly after the South Carolina decision was announced. The Machinists cited comments made by various Boeing officials who said the company picked South Carolina because of past and anticipated labor strikes in Washington state.
“Our goal in filing this charge has been to set things right,” Tom Wroblewski, president of the local union, wrote in the Machinists monthly publication. “Since Boeing admits that the second 787 line would be in Puget Sound if not for their illegal threats, to put things right, the second 787 line should be in Puget Sound (region).”
Shortly before Boeing selected the North Charleston site, workers at the company’s former supplier facilities there voted to oust the Machinists union. South Carolina is a right-to-work state. Wilson, the state’s attorney general, called the labor board’s action an “attack on our right to work.”
Wilson was joined in his letter to the labor board by attorneys general for the states of Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma and Virginia.
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