Employment Law Report

By Edwin S. Hopson

On December 9, 2011, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon in a press release announced that the withdrawal of a charge by the Machinists union against the Boeing Co. over Boeing’s planned opening of a plant in South Carolina to build its large new commercial airliner, has been approved bringing the matter to an end.  The Machinist Union had requested withdrawal of its unfair labor practice charge.  This came after Boeing and the union agreed upon a new four-year collective bargaining agreement earlier this week. Based on the union’s request, the NLRB administrative law judge presiding over the case dismissed the complaint and remanded the case to the NLRB’s Seattle regional office.  NLRB Regional Director Richard Ahearn then approved the union’s written request to withdraw the charge on December 9, 2011, and the case is now closed.