The National Labor Relations Board asked a judge Tuesday to deny the Boeing Co.’s request to dismiss a complaint that claims the jetmaker retaliated against its Machinists in Washington state. The labor board filed a federal complaint in April, alleging that Boeing built a new 787 factory in South Carolina to punish its Machinists for strikes in the Puget Sound region. On the first day of a hearing over the complaint last week in Seattle, Boeing’s attorneys asked the administrative law judge to dismiss the case, saying the labor board failed to state a claim. Boeing also said the remedy sought by the board — for a second 787 line to be established in Washington — was “legally indefensible.” On Tuesday, the labor board’s attorneys called Boeing’s motion “woefully premature.” They argued that a complaint in which a company is accused of violating labor law can’t be dropped for failure to state a claim and went on to argue that they did state a claim. Lastly, the labor board’s attorneys addressed Boeing’s problem with the proposed remedy of setting up a second line in Washington. The labor attorneys said the remedy is a standard approach in similar cases. It is not known when the judge will rule on Boeing’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
IRS misses 133 scofflaw employees
Some 133 workers at the Internal Revenue Service apparently didn’t comply with U.S. tax laws during a two-year period, but the agency failed to detect them, a government investigator said Tuesday. About 44 percent of the cases were workers who filed late returns but didn’t owe any taxes, said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge. From 2004 to 2008, the IRS identified an average of nearly 8,800 employees a year who were not complying.
Labor board wants quicker union votes
The National Labor Relations Board proposed sweeping new rules Tuesday to allow unions to hold workplace elections much more quickly, winning praise from Democrats and labor leaders who called it a long overdue fix to a broken system. But the move was quickly condemned by business groups and their GOP supporters. The board is proposing to streamline a union election process that has workers vote within 45-60 days after a union gathers enough signatures, a time many companies use to discourage unionizing. The new plan could cut that by days or even weeks.
FAA concerned about Philippines jet repairs
Safety experts say U.S. inspection records of an aircraft repair station in the Philippines show a pattern of stubborn problems that underscore concerns about industry outsourcing of maintenance to facilities in developing countries. The Federal Aviation Administration inspection records of Lufthansa Technik Philippines in Manila said the facility had repeated difficulties in following U.S. regulations on matters ranging from record-keeping to calibrating tools used for service.
From Herald news services
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