Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) is furious with the National Labor Relations Board for challenging Boeing’s new production facility in South Carolina.
Graham tells National Review Online that he may attempt to defund the agency for punishing right-to-work states. He also urges White House chief of staff William Daley to defend Boeing’s ability to determine where it manufactures its products.
Graham notes that Daley was on Boeing’s board of directors when it voted unanimously to launch a new final-assembly line for the Dreamliner 787 aircraft in Charleston. That decision irked aerospace workers in Everett, Wash., who promptly filed a complaint, claiming that the move violated the company’s collective-bargaining agreements.
As the NLRB rallies behind workers in Puget Sound, Graham plans to put the heat on Daley. “If the NLRB believes that this was illegal then he should be dismissed,” Graham says. “And if we can’t have this complaint dismissed, I will bring legislation to defund [the NLRB].”
“Unelected bureaucrats are doing the bidding of special-interest groups,” Graham says. “This is going to play out badly for the NLRB and the unions pushing this. The NLRB is trying to have veto power over business decisions.”
“For the complaint to have merit, Mr. Daley would have had to go along with ‘retaliatory action’ by Boeing, or was blissfully ignorant of the situation,” Graham says. “Neither scenario makes sense. Mr. Daley has been a good choice by President Obama and he fully understood, I’m sure, the business wisdom of diversifying Boeing’s assembly capability by coming to South Carolina.”
When we have a government agency that can foreclose a company from moving from one state to another - for WHATEVER reason - how is that not Marxism?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIs it me or are these really tough times for freedom and liberty in America?
What we're seeing here is crony socialism. the unions are among the co owners of the time share condo which is the Democrat party. They spent millions on the federal government and they want some ROI.
right now the unions, the lawyers, the poverty lobby and environmentalists are seeking to cash in the investment that they've made in a Democrat party lead government.
We should not spare the old time Republicans either. The bureaucracy that now seeks to rule us grew when they were in charge too. Promises of shutting down departments came to naught because they lacked the nerve to take on the entrenched powers that be in DC.
So yeah, express disgust in the general direction of Harry Reid & Co. but save some tar and feathers for Mitch McConnell.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"He [Graham] also urges White House chief of staff William Daley to defend Boeing’s ability to determine where it manufactures its products."
HA HA HA HA HA!
Oh, the inestimable Lindsay Graham!
William Daley's gone the way of Anakin Skywalker! And not even the best efforts of Obie-Wan-Lindsay can rescue him now from the Emperor's clutches!
Scott Wilson:
Well, see, Karl Marx would NEVER have allowed private industry to remain private! The distinction is SOOO meaningful, huh?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Mr. Daley has been a good choice by President Obama...."
There you go again, Ms. Graham.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@madisonian - "The distinction is SOOO meaningful, huh?"
Good point. Thankfully, our government has never taken over a failed private business in the name of the "public interest". Wait, what...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWell, it looks like the NLRB wants Boeing to move offshore like every other U.S. manufacturer. Seriously, what was Boeing thinking, trying to build a new facility in the U.S.? Instead of a nice, new manufacturing base in a right-to-work state, we're going to end up seeing a nice, new manufacturing base in a right-to-enslave country. The cause? Just look for the union label.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSenator Grahmnesty, R. MexicoCity, really feels a primary challenge coming.
Time to perform a few head-fakes.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse'“Unelected bureaucrats are doing the bidding of special-interest groups,” Graham says.'
And Graham is REALLY upset because doing the bidding of special-interest groups is rightly the job of ELECTED bureaucrats.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseForget it Lindsey. Fresh from getting awarded the new tanker over the arguably better Airbus, Boeing will fold like a cheap tent and bow to the NLRB and union power. There's no capitalism like crony capitalism.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI like having Boeing in Charleston. They make good neighbors. SC is a right to work state and we are not easily bullied. The NLRB is truly ignorant if they think SC will roll over for union thugs. SC has to be one of the most heavily armed states in the union. You don't ask people if they own a gun, you ask them which gun is their favorite. The NLRB can just bring it on. I am in need of some entertainment.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI'm not a labor law expert but it seems NLRB has only asked for an order from an Administrative Law Judge. Seems that several more steps must occur. First, the ALJ must issue the order. Then Boeing could appeal the order, technically up to the Supreme Court. This could really create an interesting and unpleasant (for Obama) case where the Administration may have to step in through the Justice Department or get into an ugly situation with their labor supporters. This may well be the first salvo in huge fight between the creators and the looters. Boeing, GE, et al may regret their prior commitments.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseJust to stick it to Sen. Grahmnesty, I hope Obama nationalizes Boeing. No one, with an R after their name in D.C. has the guts to take on Barry so they'll just allow it to show how well they can "reach across the isle".
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMick is exactly right about the next-primary-driven head fakes.
But notice the Senator is incensed primarily over a potential threat to South Carolina's place at the trough.
It'll be closer to the primary before he starts faking it on ideological issues.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe unions are now on the defensive for their indefensible behavior. Never again will an American manufactured auto grace my drive way. If its is union made it stays on the shelf. If I need a tradesman I check to make sure they are licenced with the state and they are not union nor do they employ union sub-contractors. I shop at a grocery chain the unions tried to break but failed, even though the owner of the chain was an ardent democrat and former candidate for the Governorship of Arizona. My answer to any union supporter...........go to he//!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGood Lord, this sounds like a sub-plot from "Atlas Shrugged".
Hank Reardon tries to build a new mill in Colorado, only to have it blocked by Wesley Mouch who demands it stays put so the unions and government can pick at its decaying carcass.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGiven time every union will fall into the hands of either the Mafia (less dangerous since temporary) or the communists (which is forever). Then the union will inevitably proceed to destroy the industry in which it "works" - steel, automobile, textile, electronics, apparel...education, Amtrak, Postal Service...Some private industries can save themselves by outsourcing, but government services??? Our education has fallen to the level of Zimbabwe; after producing 3 generations of nincompoops full of self-esteem these have voted for the likes of Clinton, Obama...and before these criminals for Gore, Kerry, Mondale, Dukakis and similar cretins and bloviating gasbags and functional morons.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAll government employees unions are by definition criminal conspiracies against the people and should be routinely prosecuted under RICO laws.
No one is dealing with what the law actually says. The right to strike is protected conduct under the National Labor Relations Act. Boeing, several times, has stated that it moved these jobs away from its workers in Washington because those employees had engaged in strikes. Boeing is not being targeted because it moved jobs to South Carolina, or to a right-to-work state. The location of Boeing's new plant is irrelevant -- what matters as far as the NLRB is concerned is that the jobs were moved to non-union employees in retaliation for the union employees' protected conduct. Maybe you don't like the law, but the NLRB isn't coming out of left field on this one. Also, the NLRB isn't doing the bidding of unions. The investigation of the charge that was filed was done by career employees -- the same employees who also investigate and prosecute unfair labor practices against unions. People need to tone down the rhetoric, especially about South Carolinians being well-armed and ready to take on the NLRB. Boeing will get a fair hearing in front of an administrative law judge, who may decide there is no violation here.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"No one is dealing with what the law actually says. The right to strike is protected conduct under the National Labor Relations Act"
If you would be so kind, please point out for me in what section of the Constitution is "national labor regulation" ceded to the federal government as an enumerated power?
You presume that people don't know what the law says. I think people know EXACTLY what the law says, but many just don't believe that this is something that the Founders thought should be under the purview of the federal government.
If Boeing wants to move to South Carolina, or the moon for that matter, it's absolutely no business of the federal government - even though five Supreme Court justices said it was in 1937. Starting with the Wagner Act, the usurpation of state's rights under the cover of the commerce clause has been nothing short of shameful.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse@dcgm --- retaliation? There is no proof. If a company is subjected to frequent strikes, it makes good business sense to go someplace that doesn't have the production interruptions. It has nothing to do with any punishment. That is only a characterization by union supporters do drum up support for punishing Boeing. The union has only itself to blame for pushing too far.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIsn't the question this: Did Boeing fire union workers in Washington and move those jobs to South Carolina OR did Boeing create NEW jobs in South Carolina? If they did the former, then there MAY be something for the NLRB to address. However, I believe the answer is the latter - and as such the union really has no case.
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