Last week, a federal judge denied Boeing’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that claims the aircraft manufacturer violated federal labor laws.
The 21-page ruling, issued on June 30 by Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson, comes before evidence or testimonies have been heard in the hearing, which began in Seattle on June 14 and is ongoing. The case coincided with a congressional hearing on June 17 in which NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon testified about Boeing’s allegedly unlawful actions.
On April 20, the NLRB filed a complaint against Boeing, alleging that the company illegally transferred work from a union plant in Washington to a new, nonunion plant in South Carolina in retaliation for past union strikes. Solomon seeks an order requiring Boeing to return production to Washington.
Boeing GC Michael Luttig claims the company did not transfer work in retaliation, but instead opened a second production facility in South Carolina to handle additional orders. In a letter to Solomon, Luttig said the NLRB GC’s statements “fundamentally misquote or mischaracterize statements by Boeing executives and actions taken by the company.”
Business groups have criticized the NLRB for bringing the case.
Read more about the NLRB’s pro-union actions in the upcoming August issue of InsideCounsel.
