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  HIST	Boeing cuts ribbon on $750 million plant Create a hardcopy of this page 750 million plant Chaplain Rob Dewey of the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy leads government officials and company workers in a prayer to bless Boeing Co.'s $750 million assembly plant in North Charleston on Friday. Gov. Nikki Haley and state officials joined hundreds of Boeing workers in North Charleston to cut the ribbon opening the company's 787 jetliner assembly plant. Posted: Saturday, June 11, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:22 pm, Fri Jun 10, 2011. By BRUCE SMITH The Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON (AP) - The $750 million South Carolina plant where Boeing will assemble 787 jetliners was dedicated Friday with little mention of a National Labor Relations Board complaint challenging construction of the largest single industrial investment in state history. But the lawsuit, which gets its first airing in a Seattle courtroom next week, was the undercurrent as officials and hundreds of plant workers gathered in stifling heat outside the blue and white assembly building the size of 11 football fields. Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing, South Carolina, was joined by Gov. Nikki Haley and various state and local officials. He said the new planes will fly at 35,000 feet, carry 250 passengers and must do it safely. "Boeing has just made a statement today," Jones said. "They have said we believe airplanes that are that vital and that important can be built outside Puget Sound." The federal NLRB sued in April, claiming that Boeing located the assembly line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, to retaliate against Washington state union workers who went on strike in 2008. The board wants that work returned to Washington state. In right-to-work states such as South Carolina, unions cannot force membership across an entire worksite as a condition of employment. Still, South Carolina plant workers don't think the jobs will return to Washington. "It's all just political posturing. It's all just a big game," said 27-year-old plant worker Charles Kaiser. Michael Sharpe, 47, said he thinks it would be a different story if the jobs had been moved overseas. "The jobs that came here, if they moved them out of the country, I could see why they would be crying about it," Sharpe said. "These jobs are in the United States, so let's keep them. They are American jobs." U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also noted that Boeing could have moved the jobs overseas. "Boeing is here in South Carolina and, for anyone wondering, Boeing is going to stay in South Carolina," he said. Graham told several media outlets later that he will hold up the nomination of John Bryson as the nation's new commerce secretary until the Obama administration says Boeing is an ethical company. The nomination of Bryson, a Boeing board member, is already opposed by several GOP lawmakers for other reasons. U.S. Rep. and Sumter native Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., called the Boeing investment a game changer for the state, the most important since the Navy built a base in Charleston in the early 20th Century. Haley, a Republican, promised Boeing would have complete support from South Carolina. "We are going to fight for you, we're going to support you, we're going to be a cheerleader and we can't wait to see those mac daddy planes come out of here," Haley said. Later, speaking to reporters, she called the NLRB complaint against Boeing "one of the worst travesties we have seen. When you start telling a company that they can't create jobs, that's un-American." Nancy Cleeland of the NLRB said the agency had no comment. The new plant was built in 18 months, and assembly of the first aircraft begins next month. The first South Carolina 787 is expected to fly next year. "The goal is not to build a building," Graham said. "The goal is to fly a plane made in South Carolina." Still, Friday was a big day for plant worker Eddie Gaither, 34, who moved to the area from the rural South Carolina community of Winnsboro to work for Boeing. "It means a new start, not just for me, not just for my family, but for the whole state of South Carolina," he said. "We can produce one of the best, best, best aircraft in the world and we're at the beginning right here in Charleston." Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, June 11, 2011 Haley, Democrats weighing in before Boeing hearing Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the dedication of Boeing Co.'s $750 million final assembly plant in North Charleston on June 10. Posted: Friday, June 17, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 10:57 pm, Thu Jun 16, 2011. By MEG KINNARD The Associated Press COLUMBIA - Republicans and Democrats jockeyed Thursday over plans for a congressional hearing in South Carolina on the National Labor Relations Board's suit against Boeing Co. The board sued the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer in April, saying Boeing broke the law when it built a non-union passenger jet assembly line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, instead of Washington state. Most 787s there are assembled by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The NLRB says that decision was made to retaliate against unionized Washington state workers, and an administrative judge in Seattle began considering the case this week. Boeing has challenged the labor board complaint, saying no work was removed or transferred from Washington and that no union member lost a job. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is scheduled to hold a special hearing on the issue today in North Charleston. But two top Democrats called on Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., either to delay the hearing entirely while the lawsuit moves forward or at least to direct committee members not to ask NLRB general counsel Lafe Solomon about the litigation. "You have every intention at the upcoming hearing of pressing the very kinds of questions that put the due process rights of private parties in jeopardy," U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and George Miller, D-Calif., wrote. "You seem to believe that, even if your conduct amounts to improper interference with constitutional rights, that should not be the Committee's concern and instead should be left to the parties to litigate later." Solomon initially turned down Issa's invitation to testify, later acquiescing after the threat of a subpoena. A spokesman for Issa's committee said Thursday the hearing would go on as planned and that it would be up to any witnesses to refuse to answer questions if they choose. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, praised members of South Carolina's congressional delegation Thursday, saying they have been helpful in showing President Obama that the state is serious about protecting its employers. "What we're doing is showing that this doesn't just affect us on the state level, but the federal delegation will step up as well and make sure that our voices are heard loud and clear from South Carolina that this bullying has got to stop, and that we're not going to allow them to attack Boeing the way they have," Haley said. Haley, who has made no secret of her opposition to unions, is also a defendant in a federal lawsuit by the machinists and the AFL-CIO. They want Haley and state labor department head Catherine Templeton ordered to remain neutral in union matters. When Haley nominated Templeton last December, she said her background would be helpful in state fights against unions, particularly at the new $750 million Boeing plant, the largest single industrial investment in state history. U.S. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a longtime union critic who sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the NLRB seeking documents including communications with senior union officials, spoke out Wednesday about the dispute. He noted that Boeing has actually added union jobs since the South Carolina plant's inception. "This administration should be celebrating Boeing. Since Boeing decided to build a new plant in South Carolina, they've added 2,000 union jobs in Washington state and more than 1,000 jobs in South Carolina," DeMint said on CBS' "The Early Show." Haley said Thursday she will continue to try to press the administration to step in and halt the lawsuit. "The only thing that can right this wrong is for the president to tell the NLRB to back off," Haley said. "And until that happens, it is my job to be loud and annoying and in his face until he realizes that what they have done is wrong, and he did it to one of our own American companies, and this has got to stop." Also Thursday, Boeing announced it would serve as a local sponsor of the newly renamed RBC-Heritage Classic golf tournament through 2016, further ensconcing the company as a corporate presence in South Carolina. Posted in Local news, News on Friday, June 17, 2011 Lawyer: Boeing suit helps all workers The Associated Press Lawyer: Boeing suit helps all workers Workers and visitors enter Boeing Co.'s $750 million final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. on Friday, June 10, 2011.Gov. Nikki Haley and state officials have joined hundreds of Boeing workers in North Charleston to cut the ribbon opening the company's 787 jetliner assembly plant at the center of a National Labor Relations Board dispute. Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:37 pm, Fri Jun 17, 2011. BRUCE SMITH Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON - The top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board told a congressional committee Friday that while an NLRB complaint against Boeing Co. may make South Carolina workers feel vulnerable and anxious, the legal action is aimed at protecting the rights of workers everywhere. The NLRB is suing the aeronautics giant alleging the manufacturer located its new 787 jet assembly line in South Carolina to retaliate against union workers in Washington state who went on strike in 2008. The congressional hearing is the latest episode in a dispute between the NLRB, which has a majority of Democratic appointees, and GOP lawmakers and Boeing. The NLRB wants that work returned to Washington state, even though the company opened its $750 million South Carolina plant last week. "Boeing has every right to manufacture planes in South Carolina, or anywhere else, for that matter, as long as those decisions are based on legitimate business considerations," Lafe Solomon, the agency's acting general counsel, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Relations meeting in South Carolina. South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who with 15 other GOP governors asked that the complaint be dismissed, called the complaint "an attack on our employers trying to keep business in America." The plant represents the single largest industrial investment in the history of South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The NLRB complaint went before a judge in Seattle earlier in the week and an attorney for Boeing asked that it be dismissed, adding it had cast a shadow over the company's employees, supplies and investments. The company said that no one has lost a job in Washington state and that Boeing has added more than 3,000 jobs at its assembly site in Everett, Wash. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson called the complaint "the shot heard around the business world" and said it could allow the NLRB to decide where companies invest business capital. Haley warned that workers across the nation could suffer if companies take business overseas. "The retaliation is coming from the president. The retaliation is coming from the NLRB. It is not coming from Boeing," she said. Solomon told the panel's Republican chairman, Darrell Issa of California, that the White House played no role in his decision to bring the complaint. Before the hearing began, a small group of protesters gathered outside holding signs saying Chicago-based Boeing must create jobs legally. Georgette Carr, who has worked as a union dock worker for 10 years, said South Carolina needs good jobs but "companies that come here need to play by the rules." Democrats on the committee strongly questioned why the panel was holding a field hearing the same week the NLRB complaint went to court. "I am very concerned about the timing. His (Solomon's) testimony today raises questions about the due process rights of litigants," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Malony of New York. Haley has made no secret she opposes unions. The International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO sued earlier this year, asking for a court order telling Haley and state Department of Labor director Catherine Templeton to remain neutral in union matters in South Carolina. The lawsuit stemmed from several remarks, including those Haley made last December when she nominated Templeton. Haley said her background would be helpful in state fights against unions, particularly at the new Boeing plant. A federal judge is expected to rule next week on a motion to dismiss that case. Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, June 18, 2011 Documents show Boeing aimed to trump unions with new plant By SAM HANANEL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Documents released Friday by a union in a high-profile labor dispute with Boeing Co. suggested the aerospace giant opened a new plant in South Carolina partly to escape its labor problems in Washington state. The Machinists union said the documents bolster the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit accusing the company of retaliating against unions in Washington state by opening a second production line for its 787 aircraft in Charleston. The internal documents - presented to Boeing's board of directors in 2009 - show Boeing officials thought opening the South Carolina plant was the highest-risk option they studied with the highest likelihood of failure. But the documents also say the South Carolina plan, dubbed "Project Gemini," would help in "rebalancing an unbalanced and uncompetitive labor relationship." One document listing rationale supporting the South Carolina plan said it "creates a non-union, competitive labor choice" and "lowers labor costs and avoids the current hostage situation," an apparent reference to past strikes at plants in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. The same document also lists other positive reasons for choosing South Carolina, including logistical efficiency, geographic diversity and gaining political support in a key state. "The Project Gemini documents prove what we've suspected all along - that Boeing moved to Charleston to punish our members for exercising their union rights," said Connie Kelliher, a spokeswoman for the union's District 751. A Boeing spokesman had no immediate comment. Boeing has denied it opened the new plant to retaliate against the union, saying it did so for valid economic reasons. The latest documents were obtained as part of the government's lawsuit now pending before an administrative law judge in Seattle. The NLRB contends that Boeing opened the second line in right-to-work South Carolina to punish union workers in Washington state over a series of costly strikes. NLRB assistant general counsel Lafe Solomon wants Boeing to move the new line to Washington state. It was already known that Boeing executives had made public comments that criticized union activity and mentioned it as a reason to invest in South Carolina. Boeing officials said those comments were twisted out of context and that just because the company complained about the union didn't necessarily mean those issues drove the decision to open a new line in South Carolina. Boeing officials say granting the government relief would force it to close a $1 billion plant and lay off more than a thousand South Carolina workers. The company says the government has no legal right to interfere with business decisions about where to locate production. The case has become an issue in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and GOP lawmakers have used the issue to bash the Obama administration's economic policies. Posted in Ap news on Saturday, September 24, 2011 Boeing rolls out first 787 made in South The Associated Press Boeing rolls out first 787 made in South Boeing workers work gather around a 787 at the company's assembly plant in North Charleston on Friday. The plane, rolled out Friday, is the first 787 manufactured at the company's South Carolina plant that opened last year. Associated Press | NORTH CHARLESTON - Boeing rolled out the first jetliner made in the American South on Friday amid fireworks and the cheers of thousands of blue-clad workers shouting "We build jets." The white Boeing 787, which has been purchased by Air India, was slowly pulled onto the tarmac as machines poured smoke from behind the massive doors of the company's final assembly building. The aircraft is the first completed at the $750 million plant that opened last year. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham and James Albaugh, president and CEO of the company's commercial airplanes division, were among the dignitaries on hand. So were plant workers. The company employs about 6,000 in North Charleston, and it appeared most of them poured out of the buildings on the company's 240-acre campus to celebrate. The plant should turn out four completed aircraft by year's end. By the end of 2013, the plant should be producing about three-and-a-half of the speedy, light aircraft made half of composite material of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. "It's the fastest-selling plane going into production that Boeing has ever had," Jack Jones, the vice president and general manager of the plant, told reporters earlier Friday. He said the company already has 854 orders from 59 customers. It took about 30 months from groundbreaking until the first 787 was rolled out. The engines still need to be tested and the plane needs to be flown. It will be two months before delivery. The first four of the South Carolina aircraft are being sold to Air India, but Jones said it has nothing to do with Gov. Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent and is a strong advocate of the industry and strong opponent of unions. "That was just the way it worked out," Jones said. The plant was a source of political controversy after the National Labor Relations Board brought a complaint against the aircraft manufacturer alleging the nonunion South Carolina plant was built in retaliation for past union strikes in Washington state. The complaint was dropped late last year after the Machinists Union approved a contract extension and Boeing promised to build a new version of the 787 in Washington. Jones said the complaint had no effect on relations between Boeing staff in Washington State and in South Carolina. "They are right there with us. They are our partners," Jones said. "The NLRB could not be here with us today," Graham told the crowd to hoots and cheers. "That means a good decision on their part. The only one I can remember lately." He told the workers: "You have made the state shine. You have put us on the map of the world economy." "Let's make this very clear. It has been a long two and a half years," Haley told the crowd. "Everybody is going to be talking about Boeing. They are going to be talking about it across the country. They are going to be talking about it across the world. They are going to be talking about how we built the most efficient plane in the state of South Carolina." Michael Hargrove, a fabrication specialist who works on the composites building the aft end of the 787s, was working with an automotive manufacturer when he got laid off and started working for Boeing. He went to school and got his associate's degree in aircraft technology at Trident Technical College. The plant, he said, "is a great thing. It's good for our economy." © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, April 28, 2012  [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  HIST	Boeing cuts ribbon on $750 million plant Create a hardcopy of this page 750 million plant Chaplain Rob Dewey of the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy leads government officials and company workers in a prayer to bless Boeing Co.'s $750 million assembly plant in North Charleston on Friday. Gov. Nikki Haley and state officials joined hundreds of Boeing workers in North Charleston to cut the ribbon opening the company's 787 jetliner assembly plant. Posted: Saturday, June 11, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:22 pm, Fri Jun 10, 2011. By BRUCE SMITH The Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON (AP) - The $750 million South Carolina plant where Boeing will assemble 787 jetliners was dedicated Friday with little mention of a National Labor Relations Board complaint challenging construction of the largest single industrial investment in state history. But the lawsuit, which gets its first airing in a Seattle courtroom next week, was the undercurrent as officials and hundreds of plant workers gathered in stifling heat outside the blue and white assembly building the size of 11 football fields. Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing, South Carolina, was joined by Gov. Nikki Haley and various state and local officials. He said the new planes will fly at 35,000 feet, carry 250 passengers and must do it safely. "Boeing has just made a statement today," Jones said. "They have said we believe airplanes that are that vital and that important can be built outside Puget Sound." The federal NLRB sued in April, claiming that Boeing located the assembly line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, to retaliate against Washington state union workers who went on strike in 2008. The board wants that work returned to Washington state. In right-to-work states such as South Carolina, unions cannot force membership across an entire worksite as a condition of employment. Still, South Carolina plant workers don't think the jobs will return to Washington. "It's all just political posturing. It's all just a big game," said 27-year-old plant worker Charles Kaiser. Michael Sharpe, 47, said he thinks it would be a different story if the jobs had been moved overseas. "The jobs that came here, if they moved them out of the country, I could see why they would be crying about it," Sharpe said. "These jobs are in the United States, so let's keep them. They are American jobs." U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also noted that Boeing could have moved the jobs overseas. "Boeing is here in South Carolina and, for anyone wondering, Boeing is going to stay in South Carolina," he said. Graham told several media outlets later that he will hold up the nomination of John Bryson as the nation's new commerce secretary until the Obama administration says Boeing is an ethical company. The nomination of Bryson, a Boeing board member, is already opposed by several GOP lawmakers for other reasons. U.S. Rep. and Sumter native Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., called the Boeing investment a game changer for the state, the most important since the Navy built a base in Charleston in the early 20th Century. Haley, a Republican, promised Boeing would have complete support from South Carolina. "We are going to fight for you, we're going to support you, we're going to be a cheerleader and we can't wait to see those mac daddy planes come out of here," Haley said. Later, speaking to reporters, she called the NLRB complaint against Boeing "one of the worst travesties we have seen. When you start telling a company that they can't create jobs, that's un-American." Nancy Cleeland of the NLRB said the agency had no comment. The new plant was built in 18 months, and assembly of the first aircraft begins next month. The first South Carolina 787 is expected to fly next year. "The goal is not to build a building," Graham said. "The goal is to fly a plane made in South Carolina." Still, Friday was a big day for plant worker Eddie Gaither, 34, who moved to the area from the rural South Carolina community of Winnsboro to work for Boeing. "It means a new start, not just for me, not just for my family, but for the whole state of South Carolina," he said. "We can produce one of the best, best, best aircraft in the world and we're at the beginning right here in Charleston." Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, June 11, 2011 Haley, Democrats weighing in before Boeing hearing Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the dedication of Boeing Co.'s $750 million final assembly plant in North Charleston on June 10. Posted: Friday, June 17, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 10:57 pm, Thu Jun 16, 2011. By MEG KINNARD The Associated Press COLUMBIA - Republicans and Democrats jockeyed Thursday over plans for a congressional hearing in South Carolina on the National Labor Relations Board's suit against Boeing Co. The board sued the Chicago-based aircraft manufacturer in April, saying Boeing broke the law when it built a non-union passenger jet assembly line in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, instead of Washington state. Most 787s there are assembled by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The NLRB says that decision was made to retaliate against unionized Washington state workers, and an administrative judge in Seattle began considering the case this week. Boeing has challenged the labor board complaint, saying no work was removed or transferred from Washington and that no union member lost a job. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is scheduled to hold a special hearing on the issue today in North Charleston. But two top Democrats called on Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., either to delay the hearing entirely while the lawsuit moves forward or at least to direct committee members not to ask NLRB general counsel Lafe Solomon about the litigation. "You have every intention at the upcoming hearing of pressing the very kinds of questions that put the due process rights of private parties in jeopardy," U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and George Miller, D-Calif., wrote. "You seem to believe that, even if your conduct amounts to improper interference with constitutional rights, that should not be the Committee's concern and instead should be left to the parties to litigate later." Solomon initially turned down Issa's invitation to testify, later acquiescing after the threat of a subpoena. A spokesman for Issa's committee said Thursday the hearing would go on as planned and that it would be up to any witnesses to refuse to answer questions if they choose. Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, praised members of South Carolina's congressional delegation Thursday, saying they have been helpful in showing President Obama that the state is serious about protecting its employers. "What we're doing is showing that this doesn't just affect us on the state level, but the federal delegation will step up as well and make sure that our voices are heard loud and clear from South Carolina that this bullying has got to stop, and that we're not going to allow them to attack Boeing the way they have," Haley said. Haley, who has made no secret of her opposition to unions, is also a defendant in a federal lawsuit by the machinists and the AFL-CIO. They want Haley and state labor department head Catherine Templeton ordered to remain neutral in union matters. When Haley nominated Templeton last December, she said her background would be helpful in state fights against unions, particularly at the new $750 million Boeing plant, the largest single industrial investment in state history. U.S. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a longtime union critic who sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the NLRB seeking documents including communications with senior union officials, spoke out Wednesday about the dispute. He noted that Boeing has actually added union jobs since the South Carolina plant's inception. "This administration should be celebrating Boeing. Since Boeing decided to build a new plant in South Carolina, they've added 2,000 union jobs in Washington state and more than 1,000 jobs in South Carolina," DeMint said on CBS' "The Early Show." Haley said Thursday she will continue to try to press the administration to step in and halt the lawsuit. "The only thing that can right this wrong is for the president to tell the NLRB to back off," Haley said. "And until that happens, it is my job to be loud and annoying and in his face until he realizes that what they have done is wrong, and he did it to one of our own American companies, and this has got to stop." Also Thursday, Boeing announced it would serve as a local sponsor of the newly renamed RBC-Heritage Classic golf tournament through 2016, further ensconcing the company as a corporate presence in South Carolina. Posted in Local news, News on Friday, June 17, 2011 Lawyer: Boeing suit helps all workers The Associated Press Lawyer: Boeing suit helps all workers Workers and visitors enter Boeing Co.'s $750 million final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. on Friday, June 10, 2011.Gov. Nikki Haley and state officials have joined hundreds of Boeing workers in North Charleston to cut the ribbon opening the company's 787 jetliner assembly plant at the center of a National Labor Relations Board dispute. Posted: Saturday, June 18, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:37 pm, Fri Jun 17, 2011. BRUCE SMITH Associated Press NORTH CHARLESTON - The top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board told a congressional committee Friday that while an NLRB complaint against Boeing Co. may make South Carolina workers feel vulnerable and anxious, the legal action is aimed at protecting the rights of workers everywhere. The NLRB is suing the aeronautics giant alleging the manufacturer located its new 787 jet assembly line in South Carolina to retaliate against union workers in Washington state who went on strike in 2008. The congressional hearing is the latest episode in a dispute between the NLRB, which has a majority of Democratic appointees, and GOP lawmakers and Boeing. The NLRB wants that work returned to Washington state, even though the company opened its $750 million South Carolina plant last week. "Boeing has every right to manufacture planes in South Carolina, or anywhere else, for that matter, as long as those decisions are based on legitimate business considerations," Lafe Solomon, the agency's acting general counsel, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Relations meeting in South Carolina. South Carolina's Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who with 15 other GOP governors asked that the complaint be dismissed, called the complaint "an attack on our employers trying to keep business in America." The plant represents the single largest industrial investment in the history of South Carolina, a right-to-work state. The NLRB complaint went before a judge in Seattle earlier in the week and an attorney for Boeing asked that it be dismissed, adding it had cast a shadow over the company's employees, supplies and investments. The company said that no one has lost a job in Washington state and that Boeing has added more than 3,000 jobs at its assembly site in Everett, Wash. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson called the complaint "the shot heard around the business world" and said it could allow the NLRB to decide where companies invest business capital. Haley warned that workers across the nation could suffer if companies take business overseas. "The retaliation is coming from the president. The retaliation is coming from the NLRB. It is not coming from Boeing," she said. Solomon told the panel's Republican chairman, Darrell Issa of California, that the White House played no role in his decision to bring the complaint. Before the hearing began, a small group of protesters gathered outside holding signs saying Chicago-based Boeing must create jobs legally. Georgette Carr, who has worked as a union dock worker for 10 years, said South Carolina needs good jobs but "companies that come here need to play by the rules." Democrats on the committee strongly questioned why the panel was holding a field hearing the same week the NLRB complaint went to court. "I am very concerned about the timing. His (Solomon's) testimony today raises questions about the due process rights of litigants," said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Malony of New York. Haley has made no secret she opposes unions. The International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO sued earlier this year, asking for a court order telling Haley and state Department of Labor director Catherine Templeton to remain neutral in union matters in South Carolina. The lawsuit stemmed from several remarks, including those Haley made last December when she nominated Templeton. Haley said her background would be helpful in state fights against unions, particularly at the new Boeing plant. A federal judge is expected to rule next week on a motion to dismiss that case. Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, June 18, 2011 Documents show Boeing aimed to trump unions with new plant By SAM HANANEL Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Documents released Friday by a union in a high-profile labor dispute with Boeing Co. suggested the aerospace giant opened a new plant in South Carolina partly to escape its labor problems in Washington state. The Machinists union said the documents bolster the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit accusing the company of retaliating against unions in Washington state by opening a second production line for its 787 aircraft in Charleston. The internal documents - presented to Boeing's board of directors in 2009 - show Boeing officials thought opening the South Carolina plant was the highest-risk option they studied with the highest likelihood of failure. But the documents also say the South Carolina plan, dubbed "Project Gemini," would help in "rebalancing an unbalanced and uncompetitive labor relationship." One document listing rationale supporting the South Carolina plan said it "creates a non-union, competitive labor choice" and "lowers labor costs and avoids the current hostage situation," an apparent reference to past strikes at plants in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. The same document also lists other positive reasons for choosing South Carolina, including logistical efficiency, geographic diversity and gaining political support in a key state. "The Project Gemini documents prove what we've suspected all along - that Boeing moved to Charleston to punish our members for exercising their union rights," said Connie Kelliher, a spokeswoman for the union's District 751. A Boeing spokesman had no immediate comment. Boeing has denied it opened the new plant to retaliate against the union, saying it did so for valid economic reasons. The latest documents were obtained as part of the government's lawsuit now pending before an administrative law judge in Seattle. The NLRB contends that Boeing opened the second line in right-to-work South Carolina to punish union workers in Washington state over a series of costly strikes. NLRB assistant general counsel Lafe Solomon wants Boeing to move the new line to Washington state. It was already known that Boeing executives had made public comments that criticized union activity and mentioned it as a reason to invest in South Carolina. Boeing officials said those comments were twisted out of context and that just because the company complained about the union didn't necessarily mean those issues drove the decision to open a new line in South Carolina. Boeing officials say granting the government relief would force it to close a $1 billion plant and lay off more than a thousand South Carolina workers. The company says the government has no legal right to interfere with business decisions about where to locate production. The case has become an issue in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and GOP lawmakers have used the issue to bash the Obama administration's economic policies. Posted in Ap news on Saturday, September 24, 2011 Boeing rolls out first 787 made in South The Associated Press Boeing rolls out first 787 made in South Boeing workers work gather around a 787 at the company's assembly plant in North Charleston on Friday. The plane, rolled out Friday, is the first 787 manufactured at the company's South Carolina plant that opened last year. Associated Press | NORTH CHARLESTON - Boeing rolled out the first jetliner made in the American South on Friday amid fireworks and the cheers of thousands of blue-clad workers shouting "We build jets." The white Boeing 787, which has been purchased by Air India, was slowly pulled onto the tarmac as machines poured smoke from behind the massive doors of the company's final assembly building. The aircraft is the first completed at the $750 million plant that opened last year. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham and James Albaugh, president and CEO of the company's commercial airplanes division, were among the dignitaries on hand. So were plant workers. The company employs about 6,000 in North Charleston, and it appeared most of them poured out of the buildings on the company's 240-acre campus to celebrate. The plant should turn out four completed aircraft by year's end. By the end of 2013, the plant should be producing about three-and-a-half of the speedy, light aircraft made half of composite material of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. "It's the fastest-selling plane going into production that Boeing has ever had," Jack Jones, the vice president and general manager of the plant, told reporters earlier Friday. He said the company already has 854 orders from 59 customers. It took about 30 months from groundbreaking until the first 787 was rolled out. The engines still need to be tested and the plane needs to be flown. It will be two months before delivery. The first four of the South Carolina aircraft are being sold to Air India, but Jones said it has nothing to do with Gov. Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent and is a strong advocate of the industry and strong opponent of unions. "That was just the way it worked out," Jones said. The plant was a source of political controversy after the National Labor Relations Board brought a complaint against the aircraft manufacturer alleging the nonunion South Carolina plant was built in retaliation for past union strikes in Washington state. The complaint was dropped late last year after the Machinists Union approved a contract extension and Boeing promised to build a new version of the 787 in Washington. Jones said the complaint had no effect on relations between Boeing staff in Washington State and in South Carolina. "They are right there with us. They are our partners," Jones said. "The NLRB could not be here with us today," Graham told the crowd to hoots and cheers. "That means a good decision on their part. The only one I can remember lately." He told the workers: "You have made the state shine. You have put us on the map of the world economy." "Let's make this very clear. It has been a long two and a half years," Haley told the crowd. "Everybody is going to be talking about Boeing. They are going to be talking about it across the country. They are going to be talking about it across the world. They are going to be talking about how we built the most efficient plane in the state of South Carolina." Michael Hargrove, a fabrication specialist who works on the composites building the aft end of the 787s, was working with an automotive manufacturer when he got laid off and started working for Boeing. He went to school and got his associate's degree in aircraft technology at Trident Technical College. The plant, he said, "is a great thing. It's good for our economy." © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted in Ap state news on Saturday, April 28, 2012
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  [S16155] Boeing cuts ribbon on $ 750 million plant. [S16156] Hearing begins in labor complaint against Boeing. [S16173] Haley, Democrats weighing in before Boeing hearing. [S17792] Boeing rolls out first 787 made in South. [S16181] Lawyer: Boeing suit helps all workers. [S16756] Documents show Boeing aimed to trump unions with new plant.