By Melanie Trottman - The Wall Street Journal
Another group has mobilized against the National Labor Relations Boards attempt to force Boeing to move a production line to Washington state from South Carolina: Boeing Co. workers in South Carolina who say theyll almost certainly" lose their jobs if the federal agency wins its case.
The group of three Boeing employees filed a motion Wednesday night to intervene in the NLRBs complaint against the aircraft maker saying they have a direct and concrete stake" in the outcome and "relevant evidence " to present in Boeings defense.
The NLRB run by Obama administration appointees has alleged that Boeing retaliated against union workers in Washington by adding the nonunion plant in South Carolina to assemble additional 787 Dreamliner planes. Boeing which hired more than 1000 workers and spent about $750 million to build the plant has said the allegations are groundless.
The Boeing employees Dennis Murray Cynthia Ramaker and Meredith Going are the latest group to come to the companys defense. Congressional Republicans and business groups have been saying for weeks that the complaint is frivolous and could cost jobs and economic growth both in South Carolina and elsewhere if other companies choose not to expand for fear of NLRB interference. The conservative National Right to Work Foundation has provided free legal assistance to the Boeing employees.
Only one of the three employees will be working at the newly built plant which is scheduled to start assembling 787s in July. The other two work at Boeing facilities nearby but say their jobs are related to the 787 and are therefore at risk of being transferred.
In their motion filed with the NLRBs region 19 in Seattle where the union-driven complaint was first sought the employees say they have evidence that Boeing didnt retaliate against union workers in Washington. And they say Boeing has been friendly to union workers in South Carolina. When Boeing bought one of the pre-existing 787 facilities in the state the production employees working there at the time were represented by the Machinists union and Boeing was more than willing to work with" the union the motion says. Still one of the three employees now seeking to intervene successfully led an effort to decertify the union at that plant in September 2009 in part to improve Boeings chances of building the new facility the motion says.
Boeing in an emailed statement Friday said the employees decision to file the motion is one they made on their own and is fully within their rights under the National Labor Relations Act-which protects the rights of all employees whether they choose to be represented by a union or not." The company added that the position the employees are taking is understandable … given the potential impact of the NLRBs proposed remedy on the workforce in Charleston. "
