The National Labor Relations Board’s attempt to stop Boeing from building planes at a nonunion plant could ultimately hinder job creation in the United States, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., argues in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.
Last month, the NLRB accused the aerospace giant of setting up nonunion facilities in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, to retaliate against striking union workers in Washington state. But Alexander contends Boeing and other companies need the option of operating in a state where workers don't have to join a union, drawing parallels with the auto industry's success in the Southeast.
In 1979, while Alexander was governor of Tennessee, he convinced automaker Nissan to bring its factories to his state instead of Kentucky, which was a union state.
“In 1980 Nissan chose Tennessee, a state with almost no auto jobs. Today auto assembly plants and suppliers provide one-third of our state's manufacturing jobs,” Alexander wrote. “...Recently Nissan announced that 85% of the cars and trucks it sells in the U.S. will be made in the U.S.— making it one of the largest ‘American’ auto companies.”
He added, “But now unions want to make it illegal for a company that has experienced repeated strikes to move production to a state with a right-to-work law.... Jobs would flee overseas as manufacturers look for a competitive environment in which to make and sell cars around the world.”
While some workers in right-to-work states do join unions, most don't, Alexander writes, and allowing them the option creates a competitive job market.
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