National Labor Relations Board Boeing Controversy Update

Attention remains focused on the complaint by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with regard to Boeing’s South Carolina Dreamliner plant. The complaint claims that Boeing violated federal labor law by building this plant in retaliation against past strikes by the unions.  Boeing disputes this claim. Last week, Senators Alexander (R-Tenn.), Graham (R-S.C.) and DeMint (R-S.C.) introduced The Job Protection Act in response to this complaint. The bill seeks to clarify what the NLRB is able to do with regard to employers being able to move to a new location. Specifically, the legislation states that the NLRB cannot order an employer to relocate jobs from one location to another and guarantees that an employer has the right to decide where to do business. The bill also seeks to allow businesses to discuss the various costs that could be associated with having a unionized workforce without the fear that such communication could be used as evidence in a discrimination claim. A large employer group, the Coalition for a Democratic Workforce (CDW), has sent a letter of support to the sponsors of this legislation.  AGC is a steering committee member of the Coalition for a Democratic Workforce. For more information, contact Kelly Knott at (202) 547-4685 or knottk@agc.org.