President Obama to visit Boeing plant in Washington state

Taking a cue from Republican presidential candidates, President Obama will visit one of airplane manufacturer Boeing's plants that was the focus of the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) complaint against the company.

But unlike Republicans, who visited Boeing's plant in Charleston, S.C., after the NLRB's allegation the company built a facility there in retaliation for strikes by workers at its existing facilities, Obama will visit Boeing's plant in Washington state Friday.

The NLRB's case against Boeing, which has been dropped, sparked a national debate regarding labor unions. 

It began months before Boeing opened its plant in Charleston, which is intended to build 787 Dreamliner airplanes, last summer. Before the plant opened, the NLRB initiated a legal complaint against the company alleging Boeing chose to build the plant in South Carolina, which is a right-to-work state, in retaliation for strikes by unionized workers at existing Boeing plants in Washington state.

Obama never weighed in on the NLRB case, deferring to what the White House called "an independent agency." But with South Carolina holding the third primary in the race for the Republican nomination, the GOP presidential candidates turned the NLRB case against Boeing into an issue in the presidential contest, where it is likely to stay through the fall campaign.

The White House's announcement of Obama's trip made no mention of the NLRB case against Boeing.

The president "will continue to discuss his blueprint for an economy built to last based on American manufacturing and the importance of promoting American exports," the White House said.  

However, the White House announced late Monday afternoon that Obama was nominating three people to the NLRB he placed on the panel last month via recess appointment. The White House said Obama sent nominations for full terms for current NLRB members Sharon Block, Terrance Flynn and Richard Griffin.

---