• Boeing,  National Labor Relations Board

    Poll Watch: 64% Say Boeing Should Be Allowed South Carolina Plant

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, accompanied by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, to charge that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is playing politics and hindering job growth because of the NLRB’s action against Seattle-based Boeing, charging the aircraft manufacturer wanted to build a factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work-state, in order avoid union problems

    According to the latest Rasmussen Poll.

    The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) may be upset with Boeing’s plan to operate a non-union plant in South Carolina, but most Americans think it should be allowed to.

    A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll finds that 64% think Boeing has the right to open the plant in South Carolina while just 21% disagree. When respondents are told that the NLRB believes that opening the plant is an act of retaliation against the union, the numbers barely move. Only 17% think the agency has the right to prevent Boeing from opening the new facility while 64% disagree.

    The House is expected to approve a bill barring the NLRB from getting involved with Boeing’s operation of a $750 million aircraft assembly line in South Carolina – a right-to-work state — instead of Washington State.  In April, the labor board filed a complaint against Boeing for opening the plant, claiming they did so in order to retaliate against unionized workers in Washington State for participating in numerous strikes.  Boeing attributes low costs for the plant’s location.

    Republicans and unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly side with Boeing on the issue while Democrats are more evenly divided.

    While more than 7-out-of-10 private sector workers believe Boeing should be allowed to operate a new, non-union, facility in South Carolina, only 54% of government employees agree.

    Fifty-nine percent (59%) of union members agree that Boeing should be allowed to operate the South Carolina production plant.

    I thought we had capitalism in the United States and not Soviet style central planning socialism?

    The GOP controlled House will pass this bill and Dingy Harry Reid (Democrat Senate Majority Leader and Nevada Senator) will probably bury it in the Senate. In the meantime, the NLRB is gutted because of a lack of membership and a voting quorum.

    But, never fear, this issue will rear its ugly head during the Presidential campaign.