Wed, Feb 22, 2012
Solomon Concedes He'll Never Be Confirmed After Battle
March will mark the one-year anniversary of the filing of the
complaint by union machinists who said Boeing was building a new
plant in South Carolina as retaliation for past strikes by the
union in Washington state. Despite the subsequent settlement of the
issue with a contract extension, the National Labor Relations
Board's taking up of the union fight is proving to have
long-lasting political impact.
Lafe Solomon (pictured), appointed by President Obama to be
acting general counsel at the NLRB, was responsible for making the
call on whether to back the complaint, with the implication that it
could lead to the government ordering the idling of Boeing's new
plant in right-to-work South Carolina, and force the company to
build a second assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in Washington.
Despite the fact that no union jobs in Puget Sound would be lost to
the new plant, and significant constitutional issues, Solomon sided
with the union. He says he never could have anticipated the
political backlash.
As might be expected, South Carolina took the attack very
personally. Senator Lindsey Graham promised he'd come out "full
guns a blazing," as noted at the time by Solomon. Congressional
hearings and subpoenas have dogged the NLRB ever since, Solomon has
been indirectly threatened with disbarment for refusing to turn
over documents, and Mitt Romney used the case as campaign fodder,
calling the NLRB a "rogue agency."
Even after the case was dropped, the political firestorm
continues. California Republican Darrell Issa, who subpoenaed NLRB
records as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform, is continuing to press his investigation. The
case has the potential to remain an issue in the upcoming
presidential election, and affect future NLRB funding.
As for Solomon personally, he tells the Seattle Times he's
resigned to the fact that his confirmation in the Senate to have
his interim status at NLRB made permanent is now impossible. He
claims, "I never could have imagined the fallout." But he still
believes the attempt to stop hiring in South Carolina to favor
unions in Washington was fair, adding, "Companies can make rational
economic decisions that can be in violation of the National Labor
Relations Act."
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