Post by jgaffney on May 11, 2011 12:49:33 GMT -5
If you missed it in the PeeDee, there is a battle brewing between Obama and Boeing. It seems that Boeing wanted to build a new assembly plant in South Carolina to build 787s for the world market. The National Labor Relations Board, an Executive Department agency, told them they couldn't move from Washington because the move was a retaliatory action against the unionized workers in the Seattle plant (South Carolina is a right to work state).
Mr. Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing, explains it all in this morning's WSJ:
Deep into the recent recession, Boeing decided to invest more than $1 billion in a new factory in South Carolina. Surging global demand for our innovative, new 787 Dreamliner exceeded what we could build on one production line and we needed to open another.
This was good news for Boeing and for the economy. The new jetliner assembly plant would be the first one built in the U.S. in 40 years. It would create new American jobs at a time when most employers are hunkered down. It would expand the domestic footprint of the nation's leading exporter and make it more competitive against emerging plane makers from China, Russia and elsewhere. And it would bring hope to a state burdened by double-digit unemployment—with the construction phase alone estimated to create more than 9,000 total jobs.
Eighteen months later, a North Charleston swamp has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, green-energy powered, 1.2 million square-foot airplane assembly plant. One thousand new workers are hired and being trained to start building planes in July.
It is an American industrial success story by every measure. With 9% unemployment nationwide, we need more of them—and soon.
Yet the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) believes it was a mistake and that our actions were unlawful. It claims we improperly transferred existing work, and that our decision reflected "animus" and constituted "retaliation" against union-represented employees in Washington state. Its remedy: Reverse course, Boeing, and build the assembly line where we tell you to build it.
The best response comes from Peter Venetoklis, one of the commenters on the WSJ website:
There is this erroneous yet perpetual belief among the statists that market dynamics can be bent to their will. Time and again, they impose market-distorting rules, requirements, mandates, etc on businesses, and expect the businesses simply to do as they're told. But, the USA is not a hermetically sealed economy, but rather one of the biggest players on the global market. The government cannot simply force American products onto the world market, those products must be competitive. And, if local rules reduce their competitiveness, something will have to give.
First, it was energy production, then it was the housing market, then it was automobile production, and now it's Boeing. Will the progressives never learn?
Mr. Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing, explains it all in this morning's WSJ:
Deep into the recent recession, Boeing decided to invest more than $1 billion in a new factory in South Carolina. Surging global demand for our innovative, new 787 Dreamliner exceeded what we could build on one production line and we needed to open another.
This was good news for Boeing and for the economy. The new jetliner assembly plant would be the first one built in the U.S. in 40 years. It would create new American jobs at a time when most employers are hunkered down. It would expand the domestic footprint of the nation's leading exporter and make it more competitive against emerging plane makers from China, Russia and elsewhere. And it would bring hope to a state burdened by double-digit unemployment—with the construction phase alone estimated to create more than 9,000 total jobs.
Eighteen months later, a North Charleston swamp has been transformed into a state-of-the-art, green-energy powered, 1.2 million square-foot airplane assembly plant. One thousand new workers are hired and being trained to start building planes in July.
It is an American industrial success story by every measure. With 9% unemployment nationwide, we need more of them—and soon.
Yet the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) believes it was a mistake and that our actions were unlawful. It claims we improperly transferred existing work, and that our decision reflected "animus" and constituted "retaliation" against union-represented employees in Washington state. Its remedy: Reverse course, Boeing, and build the assembly line where we tell you to build it.
The best response comes from Peter Venetoklis, one of the commenters on the WSJ website:
There is this erroneous yet perpetual belief among the statists that market dynamics can be bent to their will. Time and again, they impose market-distorting rules, requirements, mandates, etc on businesses, and expect the businesses simply to do as they're told. But, the USA is not a hermetically sealed economy, but rather one of the biggest players on the global market. The government cannot simply force American products onto the world market, those products must be competitive. And, if local rules reduce their competitiveness, something will have to give.
First, it was energy production, then it was the housing market, then it was automobile production, and now it's Boeing. Will the progressives never learn?