Machinists Hail NLRB Complaint Over Boeing South Carolina Move
Wed. April 20, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C., April 20, 2011 – The International
Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today
welcomed the decision by the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) to issue a complaint charging the Boeing Company with
illegal retaliation against Boeing employees in the Puget Sound
area. According to the NLRB, Boeing’s conduct was “inherently
destructive” of rights guaranteed to workers.
The NLRB’s complaint is in response to an Unfair Labor Practice
charge filed by IAM District 751, which represents more than
25,000 Boeing employees in Washington state. The IAM charge
cites repeated statements by senior Boeing executives that
lawful, protected activity was the “overriding” factor in the
decision to locate a 787 assembly line in South Carolina.
“Boeing’s decision to build a 787 assembly line in South
Carolina sent a message that Boeing workers would suffer
financial harm for exercising their collective bargaining
rights,” said IAM Vice President Rich Michalski. “Federal labor
law is clear: it’s illegal to threaten or penalize workers who
engage in concerted activity.”
As a remedy for the legal violation, the federal agency is
seeking a judicial order requiring Boeing to operate the second
787 line, including supply lines, with IAM members in the Puget
Sound.
The decision by Boeing to locate a 787 assembly line in South
Carolina followed years of 787 production delays and an
extraordinary round of mid-contract talks in which the IAM
proposed an 11-year agreement to provide Boeing with the labor
stability it claimed was necessary to keep 787 production in
the Puget Sound area.
Despite the IAM offer, Boeing walked away from the talks and
signed an agreement with South Carolina that included nearly
$900 million in incentives and tax relief in exchange for
building a 787 line in North Charleston, South Carolina.
“Boeing’s current management needs to rethink its strategy of
repeatedly alienating its most valuable asset: the
highly-skilled workers who build Boeing aircraft,” said
Michalski. “We will not allow our members to be made scapegoats
for any purpose.”
The IAM represents more than 35,000 Boeing workers and is among
the largest industrial trade unions in North America, with
nearly 700,000 active and retired members in dozens of
industries. For more information about the IAM, visit
www.goiam.org.
