It must be maddening to have the government siding with your former union to destroy your jobs. Yet, that is what is occurring with the Machinists’ union (IAM) having filed a charge against Boeing for opening its second 787 assembly line in Charleston, SC, a plant that used to be represented by the same union, and the union-controlled National Labor Relations Board going along with the union—thousands of South Carolinia jobs are at stake.

Well, with the Obama NLRB and their former union trying to destroy their jobs, Boeing’s employees in Charleston are now beginning to fight back.

Boeing Shirt Front

It’s been suggested that the union and NLRB’s actions in the Boeing case may not have been brought forth had it not been for the fact that the South Carolina employees decertified the very union back in 2009. Of course, by asking one simple question, this could be a ‘case closed’ and both the union as well as the NLRB could find themselves in a very tenuous Catch-22 position:

• Would the Machinists’ union have filed charges against Boeing if the workers in South Carolina did not decertify the union and had remained members instead?

If the answer is ‘no,’ then union’s actions are nothing more than retaliation for employees in Charleston exercising their legal right to decertify the union and, through its position, the NLRB is aiding and abetting the union’s retaliation.

However, if the answer is ‘yes,’ then the IAM might as well pack its bags and leave Charleston now (reportedly, the union is trying to still re-unionize the Boeing plant in SC)—for they will have announced their intent to see the Charleston jobs destroyed even if the union is the agents of those employees.

Of course, in order to prove that, the South Carolina employees would need to be able to query those who are trying to kill their jobs—primarily the union and, secondarily, the NLRB. And, the only way they can do that is if they become a party in the case.

In the last couple of weeks, no longer able to rely on the federal government to protect their rights, Boeing’s South Carolina employees have become engaged in their own fight to save their jobs—from the union and the Obama NLRB.

From the designing and donning their own shirts to send a message (see above and below) to taking up the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s offer for free legal help.

Now, with the NRTW’s help, Boeing’s South Carolina’s employees have entered the legal battle by filing a motion to “intervene” in the legal case between the NLRB, the IAM and Boeing.

Today, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced it was providing free legal aid to three South Carolina Boeing Employees, who are moving to intervene in a case brought by the Obama National Labor Relations Board and IAM union bosses that would to shut down production at Boeing’s Charleston Dreamliner facility.

A copy of the Foundation’s motion to intervene includes statements from the three Boeing employees, who explain their negative experiences with IAM union officials and their reasons for speaking out against the NLRB’s attempt to move production of the Boeing Dreamliner back to (non-Right to Work) Washington State.

According to the employees’ filing (see in full below), it is quite clear what will happen to the South Carolina plant if the NLRB and union succeed:

Although the Acting General Counsel’s press release and his Complaint assert that he does not seek to shut down Boeing’s aircraft asselubly plant in North Charleston, a shut down will be the inevitable result if the General Counsel succeeds, since Boeing is currently training its workforce specifically for the Dreamliner assembly work. As best, the plant will be disabled and the Intervenors will be without jobs if the remedy sought in ¶ 13 of the Complaint is ordered.

While the NLRB could possibly turn down the employees’ filing for ‘intervenor’ status, it will do so at its own peril, since, from a PR perspective, it will be announcing to employees across America that the NLRB does not care about employee rights—unless, of course, said employees are under the thumb of union bosses.

Boeing Employees’ Motion to Intervene and Declarations in Support FINAL 060111

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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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