Northwest labor press., May 20, 2011, Page 2, Image 2

May 20, 2011_nWLP 5/17/11 9:34 aM Page 2
GOP’s attacks on NLRB about politics, not the economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republi-
can senators are retaliating against the
National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) for doing its job.
In April, the NLRB issued a com-
plaint against Boeing Co. for moving
a planned production line for its 787
Dreamliner from its unionized Puget
Sound, Wash., plant to a nonunion fa-
cility in South Carolina. The complaint
says the move was in retaliation
against the Washington workers for ex-
ercising their federally guaranteed
right to strike and to prevent those
workers from striking in the future.
In a videotaped interview with The
Seattle Times, a senior Boeing execu-
tive said as much, telling the newspa-
per “the overriding factor” in the com-
pany’s decision to move the line wasn’t
“the business climate. And it wasn’t the
wages we’re paying today.” It was, he
said, to avoid strikes.
Retaliation is illegal, so the Interna-
tional Association of Machinists
(IAM), which represents workers at
Boeing, filed an unfair labor practice
complaint with the NLRB. The Board
is now seeking a court order requiring
Boeing to operate the second 787 line
in the Puget Sound.
Tom Buffenbarger, president of the
IAM, told delegates at a May 10 leg-
islative conference in Washington,
D.C., the charge “is the most signifi-
cant NLRB case in half a century.”
Which is why the complaint has set
off a barrage of near hysterical criti-
cism from Republicans, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, and the right-
wing media — all claiming it would
have a “deleterious effect on job cre-
ation and economic opportunity.”
Forty-one Republican U.S. senators
sent a letter to President Obama threat-
ening to filibuster his upcoming ap-
pointments to the NLRB and vowing
to defund the agency. The two nomi-
nees — acting general counsel Lafe
Solomon and former AFL-CIO attor-
ney Craig Becker, are currently serv-
ing under recess appointments.
All 10 Republicans on the Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
(HELP) Committee signed a letter to
Solomon, urging him to drop the com-
plaint and linking their demand to his
pending nomination as general coun-
sel.
In addition, eight Republican state
attorneys general signed a letter to
Solomon calling on him to withdraw
the complaint.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) described the actions as “dis-
graceful and dangerous.”
“This kind of interference is inap-
propriate. It is disgraceful and danger-
ous,” Reid said. “We wouldn’t allow
threats to prosecutors or U.S. attorneys,
trying to stop them from moving for-
ward with charges they see fit to bring
to the courts. And we shouldn’t stand
for this. It may not be illegal, but it’s
no better than the retaliation and intim-
idation that is the fundamental question
in this case. It should stop.”
Kimberly Freeman Brown, execu-
tive director of American Rights at
Work, said the complaint follows the
Board’s normal procedures, including
an investigation and a formal hearing
(scheduled for June 14 in Seattle),
where both sides will be able to make
their case.
“That’s hardly a radical departure
from the NLRB’s mandate, and it’s
certainly not an attack on the economy,
states’ rights, or even so-called ‘right-
to-work’ laws,” Freeman Brown said.
“If we stand to learn anything ... it’s
that the uproar has nothing to do with
the economy and everything to do with
politics,” noting that the same group of
people have a history of trying to dis-
mantle the NLRB.
“The reality is that the NLRB is a
neutral agency charged with protecting
workers’ rights and ensuring that
unions and businesses play by the rules
in America’s workplaces,” she said.
Reid said that just as there is a sys-
tem of checks and balances among the
three branches of government, the
NLRB serves as a check and balance
between workers and employers.
“We need agencies like the NLRB
to be able to operate freely and with-
out political pressures,” he said. “We
need to keep our independent agencies
independent. This case is for them to
decide, not us.”
Reid also pointed out that the case is
far from decided, and Republicans
should not prejudge the outcome.
“What we are really witnessing here
is another example of the Republican
assault on the middle class that has
been echoing across the country for
months now,” added Sen. Tom Harkin
(D-Iowa). “Just as people are rising up
in states across the country to tell gov-
ernors and other elected leaders not to
destroy their rights, we in this body
also need to stand up and tell powerful
and politically connected corporate
CEOs that they are not above our na-
tion’s laws.”
At the legislative conference, Buf-
fenbarger admitted that the union “still
has a hill to climb” before the case con-
cludes. He predicted it would go all the
way from the June 14 hearing through
appeals to the full Board and the
courts, “all the way up to the Supreme
Court.”
(Editor’s Note: Mike Hall of the
AFL-CIO Now News Blog and Press
Associates Inc. contributed to this re-
port.)
Chamberlain appointed to port commission
John Kitzhaber and was
SALEM — Oregon
unanimously confirmed by
AFL-CIO President Tom
the Oregon Senate on May 4.
Chamberlain has been ap-
He was seated May 10.
pointed to the Port of Port-
“Tom’s two decades of
land commission.
union and political leadership
Chamberlain replaces
experience will add a strong
former Commissioner
voice for job creation — one
Mary Olson, president of
of the key roles the Port plays
Norris Olson & Associates,
in our region through its
Inc., who has served in that
TOM
CHAMBERLAIN
transportation advocacy
post for 10 years and whose
work and its marine, aviation and in-
term expired last month.
Chamberlain was appointed by Gov. dustrial properties,” Kitzhaber said.
The Port of Portland is responsible
for overseeing Portland International
Airport, general aviation, and marine
activities in the Portland metropolitan
area.
Chamberlain joins Bruce Holte of
the International Longshore and Ware-
house Union and Ken Allen of Oregon
AFSCME Council 75 on the nine-
member commission.
Commissioners are unpaid and
serve four-year terms. They can be
reappointed.
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MAY 20, 2011