(Boeing Dreamscape)
As expected, following the
contract agreement between Boeing and its union workers, the National Labor Relations Board has dropped its complaint against Boeing. Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon
issued a statement stressing both the frequency with which such cases are settled and the ways in which the complaint against Boeing fit the mission of the NLRB:
The union asked to withdraw the charge following the ratification of a four-year collective bargaining agreement between its members and Boeing earlier this week. Based on that request, the administrative law judge presiding over the case dismissed the complaint and remanded the case to our regional office in Seattle for further processing. This morning, Regional Director Richard Ahearn approved the union’s written request to withdraw the charge, and the case is now closed.
This is the outcome we have always preferred, and one that is typical for our agency. About 90% of meritorious NLRB cases are resolved as a result of agreements between the parties or settlements with the agency before the conclusion of litigation.
One of the stated goals of the National Labor Relations Act is to foster collective bargaining and productive labor-management relations. From the beginning of this case, and at every step in the process, we have encouraged the parties to find a mutually-acceptable resolution that protects the rights of workers under federal labor law. The parties’ collective bargaining agreement, ratified this week, does just that.
After we issued complaint in April, and as the trial began in June, the parties came to realize that their mutual success required a new approach. The result is a contract that helps guarantee their success and creates job security for workers. I am pleased that the collective bargaining process has succeeded and that the parties have begun a promising new chapter in their relationship.
This result is generally believed to be excellent for Barack Obama, taking an issue aggressively politicized by Republicans off the table for 2012. Steven Greenhouse also notes that it may have implications for the NLRB's ability to function, as South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had threatened to block any future nominees to the labor board, which will be unable to function if Craig Becker's recess appointment expires without him being replaced. It remains unlikely that Senate Republicans will confirm any Obama nominees, but theoretically there's now a chance.
12:31 PM PT: I spoke too soon: Boeing and the NLRB may be happy, but congressional Republicans are determined to press this non-issue:
Congressional Republicans are still on the attack against the National Labor Relations Board – even though the agency dropped a case against Boeing that had become a rallying cry for conservatives.
A clearly unsatisfied Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the loudest congressional critics of the NLRB, on Friday called for an investigation into the labor board. And Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who had subpoenaed the board for information on the NLRB-Boeing fight, said Friday that his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wouldn’t halt the investigation and instead continue to seek information into the labor board’s actions.
At this point, every step Republicans take against the NLRB is a reminder that their outrage wasn't mostly about Boeing, but about the general idea that a government agency would support the legal rights of workers to organize without retaliation. Or, you know, any workers rights at all.