By Matt Tomsic
mtomsic@scbiznews.com
Published July 26, 2011

A congressional committee reported a bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Scott, a Charleston Republican, to legislatively prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from closing, relocating or transferring a business.

The bill is targeted at a complaint filed against the Boeing Co. for opening a final assembly plant in North Charleston for the 787 Dreamliner. The NLRB alleges that the plant represents an illegal transfer of work.

Scott’s bill, entitled “Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act,” passed the House education and workforce committee 23-16 Thursday along a party-line vote. The committee’s action drew a response from Democracts today, who held a news conference with union workers, including a Machinists Union member who works for Boeing. The Machinists member said the issue wasn’t about South Carolina but was about preserving middle-class jobs.

The bill amends the powers of the NLRB to prevent it from restoring production lines and equipment and from rescinding relocations, transfers and other location decisions made by businesses.

The bill is retroactive and applies to any NLRB complaint that has not been settled in court.

In a statement given to the House committee, Scott said his bill would keep the government from killing jobs, and he referenced the NLRB complaint against the Boeing Co., which he said threatens 1,100 jobs in North Charleston, where the aerospace company opened a final assembly and delivery facility.

Boeing also owns and operates two existing plants in North Charleston that for several years have built and integrated sections of the 787.

The NLRB complaint accuses Boeing of retaliating against its union workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Washington state by opening the line in North Charleston, a move the NLRB characterized as an illegal transfer of work. Hearings in the case began in June.

“Despite what opponents will say, this is not a union issue,” said Scott, R-S.C.. “This is a classic example of government overreach, which will destroy American jobs and encourage companies to look elsewhere in the world.”

The House committee’s Democrats voted against the bill, which overturns decades of law, according to a committee report.

“This legislation represents an enormous step backwards for worker rights in this country and will force workers to choose between their rights or their job,” according to the report. “The attention of this committee should be on creating and protection jobs, not on attacking workers rights to collectively bargain, their right to earn a livable wage and their right to affordable health care and a secure retirement.”