Obama gets past thorny labor case
http://dervishcom.blogspot.com/2011/12/obama-gets-past-thorny-labor-case.html
President Obama praised the resolution of a labor dispute that had blocked an airplane plant in South Carolina and threatened to create a political headache in next year's election.
"I'm glad people are gonna be working," Obama told a press pool as he walked from a staff holiday party in Blair House, across the street from the White House.
The National Labor Relations Board announced today it is dropping a case against Boeing, the action that had held up the plant in South Carolina; Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have used the case to argue that Obama was beholden to labor and over-regulation of the economy.
The NLRB and the unions had accused Boeing of building the South Carolina plant in order to avoid the unionization of workers.
But the machinists union, which made the initial complaint, asked that it be withdrawn after ratifying a four-year contract extension with Boeing on Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama had nothing to do with the decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which is an independent entity.
"I'm glad people are gonna be working," Obama told a press pool as he walked from a staff holiday party in Blair House, across the street from the White House.
The National Labor Relations Board announced today it is dropping a case against Boeing, the action that had held up the plant in South Carolina; Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have used the case to argue that Obama was beholden to labor and over-regulation of the economy.
The NLRB and the unions had accused Boeing of building the South Carolina plant in order to avoid the unionization of workers.
But the machinists union, which made the initial complaint, asked that it be withdrawn after ratifying a four-year contract extension with Boeing on Wednesday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama had nothing to do with the decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which is an independent entity.
