For the second time in two years, the largest union representing aerospace workers has signaled its desire to organize Boeing employees in North Charleston, S.C., where the manufacturer assembles 787 Dreamliners. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) on January 20 announced that it will petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct a union election at the complex.
The IAM filed a petition with the NLRB in the spring of 2015, but withdrew it before the April 22 scheduled vote.
As of January 20, the independent, five-member NLRB serves under the administration of President Donald Trump, who early on will be able to appoint three new members to one expiring position and two vacancies. As of later this year, Trump will separately appoint a new general counsel, the person who determines which cases the board hears. Late last year, the current NLRB ruled that Trump had illegally refused to bargain with employees of his Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Boeing built the South Carolina final assembly facility—adding to its 787 assembly operation in Everett, Wash.—after acquiring the Vought-Alenia Global Aeronautica joint venture, which integrated 787 fuselage sections at the site near Charleston International Airport. Boeing rolled out the first completed 787 from the facility on April 27, 2012.
In a press release announcing the NLRB filing, the machinists union said “numerous workplace concerns that remain unaddressed, including subjective raises, inconsistent scheduling policies and a lack of respect on the shop floor,” led to its decision to mount another organizing campaign.
“Boeing workers just want to be treated with the respect they deserve,” said Mike Evans, the IAM’s lead organizer at the Boeing South Carolina plant. “Why should they be subject to a different set of standards and rules than folks building the exact same plane in Seattle?”
The manufacturer in a statement said it “firmly believes that a union is not in the best interest of Boeing South Carolina teammates and their families.” Should the NLRB permit a vote, employees must decide “whether they will turn over their rights to the IAM or keep a direct relationship with the company,” Boeing added.
The two sides traded accusations. The IAM said it postponed the 2015 election “due to unprecedented political interference on the part of South Carolina lawmakers and the rampant spread of misinformation among Boeing workers.” Evans added: “It was impossible to hold a free and fair election in an environment so ripe with mistruths and outright lies. Unfortunately, we’ve now heard numerous reports of the company walking people off the job for seeking a voice.”
The union said it expects the NLRB will issue election dates and locations in the coming weeks.
Joan Robinson-Berry, Boeing South Carolina vice president and general manager, responded. “We have not forgotten the IAM’s history in South Carolina, including their repeated insults regarding our teammates’ abilities, their contract with Vought that took away many of the benefits those teammates already had, their attempt to keep Boeing from building 787s in South Carolina through their claim with the NLRB, and their abandoned petition in April 2015,” she stated. “There’s simply no reason to believe that anything has changed between then and now.”
