States to NLRB: Get Out of Our Way - We Need Jobs

Columbia - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and eight (8) other state attorneys general have replied to a complaint filed against Boeing Corporation by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The complaint charges Boeing with the commission of an unfair labor practice, but appears to do so without legal and factual foundation. The board claims Boeing is prohibited from expanding production of its planes beyond the reach of unions currently associated with its workers in Washington State. South Carolina is a staunch right to work state.

In reality, Boeing expanded its production of 787 Dreamliners to South Carolina last year in response to increase in demand. What the NLRB complaint fails to mention is the increased demand for the planes prompted the creation of over 2,000 new jobs in Washington State first, and continued demand subsequently required an expansion facility in South Carolina.

Recognizing the dangerous precedent this aggressive action could set against the right to work, job creation, and economic growth in many states, the attorneys general wrote:

"This complaint represents an assault upon the constitutional right of free speech, and the ability of our states to create jobs and recruit industry. Your ill-conceived retaliatory action seeks to destroy our citizens' right to work. It is South Carolina and Boeing today, but will be any of our states, with our right to work guarantees, tomorrow."

"...this tenuous complaint will reverberate throughout union and non-union states alike, as international companies will question the wisdom of locating in a country where the federal government interferes in industry without cause or justification."

"Our states are struggling to emerge from one of the worst economic collapses since the Depression. Your complaint further impairs an economic recovery. Intrusion by the federal bureaucracy on behalf of unions will not create a single new job or put one unemployed person back to work."

Read the multi-state letter to the NLRB.

Earlier this year, the NLRB wrote the attorneys general of South Carolina, Arizona, South Dakota, and Utah seeking to invalidate recent state constitutional amendments that ensure workers the right to a secret ballot when determining representation. (In South Carolina, the measure was overwhelmingly approved by 86.2% of the voters in the November 2, 2010 general election and was recently ratified by the state's General Assembly.) The states refused to comply with the NLRB's demands, and the organization has now filed legal challenges against Arizona and South Dakota.

Letter to Congress

Read full release.