Friday, May 13, 2011

Isakson Cosponsors Legislation to Prohibit Labor Board from Dictating Where Private Companies May Do Business
Bill Also Would Protect State Right-to-Work Laws

WASHINGTON – In response to the Obama administration's action against The Boeing Company's expansion of a production line in South Carolina, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., this week cosponsored legislation to prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from dictating where private companies may do business.

The legislation, S.964, the Job Protection Act, also would preserve federal protections of state right-to-work laws. Twenty-two states, including Georgia, have right-to-work clauses that protect employees from the threat of losing their jobs if they chose to either join or refrain from joining a union.

The legislation which was introduced by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., comes in response to the complaint filed by the National Labor Relation Board against Boeing. The labor board claims that Boeing sought to punish labor unions by opening a second 787 plant in South Carolina, which is a right-to-work state, rather than putting it at a unionized plant in Washington state, where the original 787 plant is located. Boeing has disputed the NLRB complaint, and attorneys general from eight states – including Georgia – have sent a letter to the NLRB decrying its action against Boeing.

Specifically, the Job Protection Act would clarify that the NLRB could not order an employer to relocate jobs from one location to another, would guarantee an employer the right to decide where to do business within the United States, and would protect an employer's free speech regarding the costs associated with having a unionized workforce without fear of such communication being used as evidence in an anti-union discrimination claim.

"The NLRB's attempt to dictate where Boeing, a private company, may do business is unfathomable. We cannot allow the administration to continue to go down this unprecedented path that would hinder to job growth in our country," said Isakson. "I am joining my colleagues in the fight to ensure that we prevent the NLRB and all government agencies from infringing on private companies' rights to make business decisions and on our states' right-to-work laws, including Georgia's. I will not sit back and allow the NLRB to implement these overreaching, job-killing policies."

On May 12, 2011, Isakson participated in a Senate committee hearing questioning the NLRB for its action against Boeing. On May 3, 2011, Isakson joined several of his colleagues in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in writing a letter to the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board warning that this action by the NLRB would have a chilling effect on business decisions across the country. Specifically, Isakson expressed concern that the NLRB's action would set a dangerous precedent of government bureaucrats dictating who employers hire and where they may conduct business.