Wednesday, September 14, 2011

NLRB vs. jobs

In the words of the Chicago Tribune: "You have to wonder about a federal agency that sticks it to an American manufacturer creating thousands of good-paying jobs inside the nation's borders, instead of overseas.

Last week, President Obama gave a long speech about job creation. Boeing, however, has done more than give speeches: it is trying to create thousands of jobs--and not minimum wage jobs, either--by opening a new 787 assembly plant in South Carolina. Those jobs are in some danger, however, because of charges brought by the NLRB under the direction of the very same President Obama. The NLRB's complaint? Boeing is opening its new plant in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, rather than Washington where it has its headquarters. Never mind that no workers in Washington are going to be fired. The NLRB somehow thinks that it can tell companies where to build new plants.According to a poll by the Tarrance Group, 78% of Americans disagree and side with Boeing.

This leads one to wonder how much Obama actually does want to create jobs. If it was a priority of his, then it seems he would at least make sure that no part of the executive branch did anything to hinder job creation. Based on the actions of the NLRB, power, not jobs, seems to be Obama's chief concern. He seems to only be interested in creating jobs if the jobs are somehow under his control.

To stop the NLRB's overreach, Republicans in Congress have introduced legislation that prevents the NLRB from ordering employees to close plants or relocate employment. If that is vetoed or falls in the Senate, they may resort to stall tactics. According to the same Tribune article, Obama's recess appointment of board member Craig Becker runs out Dec. 31. and his departure would leave just two of the board's five seats occupied. So in the absence of any new appointments — which Republicans have vowed to block — the board will fall short of a quorum.

So what we have here is a federal agency trying to blatantly overstep its bounds and destroy thousands of jobs in the middle of a recession. Furthermore, Congress may not be able to stop it without effectively shutting the NLRB down completely, preventing it from performing its legitimate functions of investigating unfair labor practices. What a mess. 

3 comments:

  1. Wow, best comment in a while, glad you're writing again.

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  2. Is there any progress on this fight with the NLRB. I read that the Obama people appointed to that board a trying to keep emails from congress that show they were bias. Also I heard that the number of jobs that would have been developed in North Carolina is 12,000! Can the president be so beholding to the unions that he would take this fight?

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