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.Wackadoodles like Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, are furious. They say unions are infringing on the companies' "freedom."
We'd like to remind them that Boeing -- like every other aerospace company on the planet -- wouldn't exist if it weren't for government contracts. Taxpayers foot the bill for those contracts. And sometimes Boeing rips off the taxpayer.
We mention that just as a reminder that Boeing doesn't operate in some free-market vacuum. Boeing has responsibilities to this country, and one of those responsibilities is to obey the law of the land. And the law says you cannot take work away from workers because they exercise their collective bargaining rights.
