Former NLRB chairman under Bill Clinton says Boeing lawsuit 'unprecedented'

The chairman of the National Labor Relations Board under the last Democratic administration says the current incarnation of the panel under President Obama has gone too far in its lawsuit against Boeing.

The NLRB has sued Boeing, which has been building 787 airplanes at its unionized plant near Seattle, arguing that the aircraft manufacturer is retaliating against strikes by unions in its home of Washington state by opening a plant to build more 787s in South Carolina.
 
South Carolina is a “right to work” state, where employers are not obliged to join a union.

Bill Gould, who led the labor board from 1994 to 1998 after being appointed to the panel by former President Bill Clinton, said he had never seen a case like Boeing's come before the NLRB during his tenure.

"The Boeing case is unprecedented," he said in an interview with Slate magazine. "I agree with much of what this board has done and is likely to do, but I don't agree with what the general counsel has done in the Boeing case.

"The general counsel is trying to equate an employer's concern with strikes that disrupt production and make it difficult to make deadlines — he's trying to equate that with hostility toward trade unionism," Gould said. "I don't think that makes sense."

The Boeing lawsuit has riled South Carolina Republicans, and because South Carolina is an early 2012 primary state, it has also become a topic of discussion among GOP presidential hopefuls. The contenders to take on President Obama in 2012 argue the lawsuit shows he is too friendly with labor unions, but the White House has said the president will not comment on the lawsuit because the NLRB is an "independent agency."