Boeing worker lodges charge against union local with NLRB

A Boeing worker has filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the Machinists District Lodge 751 over the union's handling of the Boeing contract offer.

The complaint brings Washington state’s fight over the 777X-related contract vote onto an additional arena.

“A charge has been filed by an employee against the Machinists union, alleging the union failed its duty of fair representation, by failing to give sufficient information to allow employees to make an informed vote on the contract,” said NLRB spokesman Gregory King late Friday.

The charge is another complication in the puzzle about where Boeing may decide to assemble the 777X.

“We are aware of the charge, and have referred it to our attorneys,” said Machinists District Lodge 751 spokesman Bryan Corliss on Friday.

A resolution in favor of the person issuing the complaint about the initial contract vote could conceivably force another union vote, which theoretically bring an outcome different from the earlier vote, when the local rank and file members overwhelmingly rejected the company's contract offer.

King was unable to say what redress the complainant is seeking. The charge was filed on Dec. 11, but only on Friday came to the attention of the NLRB media office, King said.

The charge is specifically focused on the days leading up to the Nov. 13 vote on Boeing’s first contract extension offer to Machinists District Lodge 751, which was defeated with a 2-1 vote.

It does not include the current dispute about whether or not Boeing workers will get a chance to vote on a second proposal that was offered by the company but rejected by union leaders.

Under NLRB rules, King was unable to share the name of the person who filed the claim, until the agency has made a determination if there is merit, he said.

The next step will be for the NLRB regional director to decide if the charge has merit, a process that can take seven to 12 weeks, King said.

“Board agents will gather evidence, take affidavits, then their findings will be evaluated by regional director, his determination gets reviewed at headquarters,” he said. “During the period of investigation and evaluation, the majority of charges are usually settled, withdrawn or dismissed.”

This raises the question of whether the filing will be resolved in time to have any impacts on decisions Boeing may make. Company leaders have said they will make a decision about where to assemble the 777X early in 2014, and some observers think that will be by the end of January, before any NLRB process would be completed.

The filing brings the NLRB into a Boeing labor dispute. In 2011, the NLRB investigated a complaint that Boeing's decision to open the North Charleston, S.C. 787 assembly plant was in retaliation for earlier labor actions by the Machinists in the Puget Sound area.

That dispute was the result of a Machinists District 751 charge against Boeing. It was only resolved after the Machinists dropped it, as part of a the 2011 contract extension that brought the Boeing 737 Max to Renton.

Meanwhile several groups of Machinists are fighting their own union, seeking a chance to vote on a second contract offer that the company made, and which Machinist leadership rejected.

Source: Puget Sound Business Journal