Darrell Issa

Issa: NLRB Has Until Friday To Hand Over Docs In Boeing Case

Susan Crabtree | August 8, 2011, 12:04PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the GOP's No. 1 Obama administration attack dog, has bitten down hard on the dispute between the National Labor Relations Board and Boeing and doesn't appear to be letting go anytime soon.

Issa issued a subpoena to the NLRB's Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon August 7 as part of its investigation into the merits of the NLRB action against the Boeing Company. The subpoena compels the NLRB to comply with earlier document requests submitted in May with a deadline of noon Aug. 12.

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National Labor Relations Board

Judge Rules For NLRB Over Boeing, Graham Piping Mad

Susan Crabtree | June 30, 2011, 6:02PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

A federal judge denied Boeing's motion to dismiss a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit that charged the aerospace giant with unfairly penalizing Washington workers' collective bargaining rights by moving a new production line to South Carolina.

Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson is allowing the case against Boeing to proceed to trial. The NLRB charged Boeing executives with retaliating against union workers in Washington state for striking by opening up the South Carolina factory, which Boeing flat-out denies.

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Defense Spending

Boeing Caught With Hand In The Cookie Jar, Overcharged Army Millions

Igor Bobic | June 29, 2011, 4:38PM

Apache Attack Helicopter

Boeing Co. raked in millions of dollars from the U.S. Army by marking up spare helicopter parts as much as 177,000 percent, according to a Defense inspector general report first obtained by the Project on Government Oversight.

Boeing, a major defense contractor, overcharged the Army on 18 different parts and collected $23 million dollars instead of the $10 million it should have received in fiscal year 2010. One part, a straight pin that usually valued at $0.04, was sold to the Army for an astronomical $74.01 per unit. A plain stud used on Apache helicopters fetched $3,369.48, even though it usually retails for $190.00 a piece - a 1,673 percent markup.

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Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney: 'Obama Will Cost This Company Jobs,' Company: 'No, He Won't'

Benjy Sarlin | June 28, 2011, 10:56AM

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)

Mitt Romney took a dig at President Obama for visiting an Alcoa plant in Iowa, saying the White House's labor appointees will soon force them to lay off workers.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The 2012 GOPers: Ex-Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)]

Alcoa's plant makes parts for the Dreamliner, a Boeing plane that is currently the subject of a legal battle between the company and the National Labor Review Board, an independent agency whose members are appointed by the White House. The NLRB recently sided with unions in Washington State who claim that a new manufacturing line for the plane in South Carolina is illegal retaliation against them for previous strikes.

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Labor

WH Commerce Secretary Pick John Bryson Defends Boeing From NLRB Suit

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 5:37PM

John Bryson

President Obama's pick to lead the Commerce Department, John Bryson, got caught in a political crossfire over a lawsuit between the National Labor Relations Board and his employer, Boeing, at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. He chose to side with Boeing, where he holds a seat on the board.

The NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing alleging that the company is building an assembly line in South Carolina as retaliation against its unionized Washington State workers. A large number of Republican lawmakers, especially in South Carolina, have waged all-out war over the decision and are even threatening to cut off the agency's funding in response.

At the hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison whether the NLRB decision was "regulatory excess," prompting Bryson to defend the corporation.

"I think it's not the right judgment," he said. "Maybe if I'm ... I wasn't thinking of it so much as regulation, it seemed like such an unexpected kind of legal proceeding that none of us on the board - we thought we were doing the right thing for the country and we looked hard at maintaining the jobs in Washington and expanding the jobs elsewhere for the benefit of the country and never thought for example of putting those jobs outside the U.S."

The NLRB is an independent agency and its lawsuit was not filed in consultation with the Obama administration, so Bryson's words don't contradict the White House. But Republicans, led by South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, have been waging all-out war on the issue and will doubtless jump on the exchange. Already the RNC is out with video:

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unions

GOP, Dems Square Off Over NLRB Case Against Boeing

Susan Crabtree | June 17, 2011, 4:17PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee repeatedly clashed Friday over the politically charged National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing Co. and its decision to locate a nonunion plant in South Carolina.

Even before the field hearing in Charleston, S.C., got underway, Democrats were accusing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of trying to intimidate the NLRB by hauling the agency's top lawyer, Lafe Soloman, before the panel.

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Labor

Harry Reid Tells GOP To Stop Pressuring Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 11:24AM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) defended the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday amid a concentrated attack from prominent Republicans around the country, accusing conservative critics of meddling with an independent federal agency.

"We need agencies like the NLRB to be able to operate freely and without political pressures," he said in a floor speech. "We need to keep our independent agencies independent. This case is for them to decide, not us."

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Boeing

After Appeal From Nikki Haley, Newt Gingrich Jumps Into SC Boeing/Labor Fight

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 9:58AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Newt Gingrich became the latest prominent Republican to take on the National Labor Relations Board over its suit against Boeing, writing an open letter in Human Events on the issue one day after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) called on President Obama and the Republican presidential field to get involved.

"It is clear that President Obama is packing the NLRB board with left wing ideologues as a payoff to his union boss allies, so that the fix is in with regard to this case and others like it," Gingrich wrote. "The move is consistent with an ongoing pattern in the Obama administration, in which they use the apparatus of big government to reward their allies and punish their opponents."

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Labor

Union Advocates Accuse GOP Of Interfering With Independent Labor Agency

Benjy Sarlin | May 11, 2011, 8:57AM

Labor allies are defending the White House from attacks by South Carolina Gov. NIkki Haley (R) and other Republican lawmakers over a union dispute with Boeing, accusing them of interfering with an independent federal agency.

At the Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, Haley and other Republicans called on President Obama to condemn the independent National Labor Relations Board, which is tasked with enforcing labor laws, for suing Boeing over a production line in South Carolina that it says constitutes illegal retaliation against unionized Boeing workers in Washington State. Obama has no direct control over the agency, but does choose its members, and Republicans have sought to block appointments they consider too pro-labor.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, issued a statement accusing the GOP of an "overly dramatic response" to a "routine unfair labor practice charge." He added that it was unfair to target the White House when it has no say in the NLRB's lawsuit.

"That's what this all comes down to: powerful corporate interests are pressuring public officials to interfere with an independent agency, rather than let justice run its course," Harkin said. "And we should not tolerate this interference. Instead, we should turn our attention back to the issues that really matter to American families - how we can create jobs in Washington, South Carolina, Iowa, and across the country?"

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Labor

South Carolina Emerges As Next Labor Flashpoint In Boeing Dispute

Benjy Sarlin | May 9, 2011, 9:56AM

An ugly spat between a huge corporation, organized labor, the White House, and a Tea Party governor whose union-busting rhetoric would make Chris Christie blush, is becoming the next national flashpoint in this year's ongoing war on unions.

The dispute centers around a planned Boeing airplane production line for its 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina using nonunion labor. The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint earlier this month looking to halt operation of the new plant after members of the International Association of Machinists at Boeing's Washington state production line claimed the decision to expand outside the state was retaliation for previous strikes. The NLRB is demanding that Boeing open a second production line in labor-friendly Washington state.

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