Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), in an interview with National Review Online, ratcheted up his criticism of the Obama administration’s labor policy.
DeMint remains infuriated with the National Labor Relations Board for bullying Boeing. “This situation borders on tyranny,” he says. “If an unelected, unaccountable, unconfirmed bureaucrat can threaten thousands of jobs and a billion-dollar investment, after the facility is virtually complete, it smacks of a Third World–type dictatorship.”
The NLRB, a federal agency, has attempted to block the aircraft manufacturer from building a production facility near Charleston. The NLRB claims that Boeing moved away from its Puget Sound base in order to retaliate against aerospace-industry unions.
“I have seen a lot of absurd things come out of this administration,” DeMint sighs. “But the absurdity here is pretty amazing. This involves the right of a company to decide where to locate its business. I cannot believe that the president has not spoken out about it. This kind of thing should not happen in America.”
“This is not about South Carolina,” DeMint notes. “This is about every American company and every state, and not just right-to-work states. This will also hurt the forced-union states. Why would a company, like BMW for example, locate in a union state if they know that they could not move or expand?”
DeMint tells me that he will continue to push this issue in coming weeks. Around the upper chamber, he is promoting his office’s new report on economic freedom, as well as the Job Protection Act, which has numerous cosponsors.
“The NLRB will not win this, at least not directly,” DeMint predicts. “Regardless, however, if this stands, Boeing will have to spend millions of dollars, over several years, fighting this and appealing it. During this process, it is going to send a chilling message to any company in a union state that is thinking about growing its business.”
“In that sense,” DeMint laments, “the board will achieve its objectives even if they don’t win.”