Obama's Pick for Commerce Secretary Criticizes Labor Case against Boeing

The aircraft manufacturer Boeing was hauled before a National Labor Relations Board judge last week on the dubious charge of anti-union practices after the company opened a new facility in business-friendly South Carolina rather than alongside an existing facility in union-friendly Washington state. If it gets it way, the NLRB would force Boeing to place the facility in Washington and shutter the South Carolina production line.

If that sounds like an example of prosecutorial overreach to you, you're not alone. As The Washington Post reports, even President Barack Obama's nominee to head up the Commerce Department, John Bryson, thinks the NLRB has gone too far. As the Post notes, the topic came up this week during Bryson's testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, and the would-be sectary of commerce did not hold his tongue:

Republicans asked Bryson about the National Labor Relations Board's suit against Boeing, which accuses the aircraft builder of opening a plant in South Carolina in retaliation against union workers in Washington state who went on strike in 2008. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said the NLRB action was "an unprecedented violation of a company's ability" to locate its facilities where it wants to.

"I think it's not the right judgment," Bryson said of the NLRB suit. He said Boeing officials were surprised by the legal action and said they believed they were "doing the right thing for the country" by keeping jobs in the U.S. and not moving them abroad.