Labor Board Withdraws Boeing Case
Seattle Regional Director Richard Ahearn approved the union's written request to withdraw the charge on Dec. 9, and the case is now closed, Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon announced.
As expected the National Labor Relations Board has withdrawn a case involving Boeing Co.'s move of aircraft manufacturing work to a South Carolina plant. NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon made the announcement Dec. 9, saying, "I am very happy to announce that my office has approved the withdrawal of a charge by the Machinists union against the Boeing Co., which brings our case in this matter to an end."
The union asked to withdraw the charge after its members ratified a four-year collective bargaining agreement with Boeing earlier this week, he said. "Based on that request, the administrative law judge presiding over the case dismissed the complaint and remanded the case to our regional office in Seattle for further processing. This morning, Regional Director Richard Ahearn approved the union's written request to withdraw the charge, and the case is now closed. This is the outcome we have always preferred, and one that is typical for our agency. About 90 percent of meritorious NLRB cases are resolved as a result of agreements between the parties or settlements with the agency before the conclusion of litigation.
"One of the stated goals of the National Labor Relations Act is to foster collective bargaining and productive labor-management relations. From the beginning of this case, and at every step in the process, we have encouraged the parties to find a mutually acceptable resolution that protects the rights of workers under federal labor law. The parties' collective bargaining agreement, ratified this week, does just that. After we issued complaint in April, and as the trial began in June, the parties came to realize that their mutual success required a new approach. The result is a contract that helps guarantee their success and creates job security for workers. I am pleased that the collective bargaining process has succeeded and that the parties have begun a promising new chapter in their relationship."