Is it un-American for Boeing to produce aircraft in South Carolina?

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787 Dreamliner.

Leverage. When you are a major government subcontractor and big brother or organized labor can apply pressure that impacts private sector management decisions.

Case in point is a recent story of Boeing investing approximately $2 billion in a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina to build their new 787 Dreamliner.

Apparently some union bosses are flexing their muscles, complaining to the NLRB,  to see if they can interfere with a costly private sector management decision in which non-union employees will be employed. South Carolina production of the Dreamliner is scheduled to commence this summer.

Should Boeing ignore the NLRB’s complaint to stop their manufacturing in South Carolina, one of 22 “right to work” states?

Are unions now calling the shots as to where the  private sector can produce products or, in this case, risk losing federal contracts for military aircraft or any other product(s)?<

We live in a global marketplace. Boeing is not the only manufacturer of commercial airliners. i.e. They must compete with Airbus.

Do we have an Interstate Commerce regulation issue here? This is a sound management decision and not a relocation for economic reasons. I have read that Boeing had added a large number of new jobs in the state of Washington. This is not a typical “outsourcing of jobs” to some foreign country. Boeing will continue aircraft production in the state of Washington.

Who knows. This might be a precursor to Card Check legislation.  We have 22 “right-to-work” states in the US.

From Wikipedia:  “Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers making membership or payment of union dues or fees a condition of employment, either before or after hiring.”

“Those “right-to-work’ states are: AL, AZ, Ark, FL, GA, ID, Iowa, KS, LA, Miss, Neb, Nev, NC, ND, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA & WY.”

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Gilbert note: Let me point out that we do not hold any Boeing stock.

As always your comments are welcome!

 

About Larry Gilbert