The good news about the stink Republicans are making regarding the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) charge of worker retaliation against Boeing is that the charge is too wonky to really take off as a clear cut political issue.

For the Tea Party to enflame the masses about the enforcement of labor law would actually involve having an understanding about how the National Labor Relations Board functions and being able to unravel the issue into a pat two or three word remark that jives with voters who prefer not having to think too much but who like to feel a whole lot.
 
Not always so easy. There’s no drill baby drill here. But the GOP and its corporate sponsors have lots of dough to pay clever marketers – they’ll soon find some rhetorical weapon. They’re trying out the “you can’t tell a business where to locate” line, but so far the explanation about the course of events muck up the argument.

The core of the issue involves a complaint filed by Lafe Solomon, the General Counsul of the NLRB who has served the agency for 29 years, working with both parties. The charge accuses Boeing of retaliation against its Washington State workers for going on strike. Boeing decided to build their new plant in South Carolina after Boeing executives went on the record saying they were opening new plants outside of Washington State in response to strikes that have occurred there in the past. The last time the union at the Boeing plant in Washington went on strike it cost Boeing an estimated $6.4 billion in lost revenue.
This quid-pro-quo retaliation against organized workers may seem like a perfectly legit way to do bizness in corporate America, but in Democratic America, it ain’t exactly Kosher.
 
Retaliation against striking workers is illegal. This isn’t some rule based on the opinions of the Obama-appointed members of the National Labor Relations Board. It’s a law. Passed by Congress and upheld by many Congresses since.

And when Congress funds the NLRB it is explicitly funding the enforcement of labor law– which
Republicans are now threatening to block.  Imagine if your county board decided to stop funding the Sheriff because he or she decided to prosecute thieves.

This isn’t the first time the GOP has tried to obstruct the work of the NLRB under Obama. Conservatives in the Senate had blocked Obama’s nominations to fill three vacancies on the five-member Board for more than a year after taking office. As you can imagine, a tremendous backlog of cases emerged.  By the time Obama finally made recess appointments to create a quorum to handle the complaints, the agency had more than 200 cases to investigate.
 
This coordinated cry from conservatives is yet another action by an anti-worker GOP leadership who also were compelled to rename the House Committee on Education and Labor the new-and-improved Committee on Education and the Workforce (wouldn’t want anyone associating our workforce with the Labor Movement!). After first re-branding itself, the Republican-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee started their important work creating jobs this session by launching hearings on the NLRB – the very agency commissioned to protect workers’ rights. The now-famous Ryan budget also included a devastating $50 million cut to the NLRB funding.
 
As this story unfolds – the case is due to appear before an independent Arbiter next – I will keep you posted. Until then, check out American Rights at Work to learn more:  Here and Here