Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/57873717/Boeing-Motion-to-Dismiss
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Boeing Motion to Dismiss | Strike Action | Boeing
Description: Boeing Motion to Dismiss in NLRB v. Boeing case.
Boeing Motion to Dismiss in NLRB v. Boeing case.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD REGION 19 THE BOEING COMPANY
and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS DISTRICT LODGE 751, affiliated with INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS
Case 19-CA-32431
MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM, OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, TO STRIKE THE INJUNCTIVE RELIEF SOUGHT IN ¶ 13(A) OF THE COMPLAINT June 14, 2011 William J. Kilberg P.C. Eugene Scalia Matthew McGill Paul Blankenstein Daniel J. Davis GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington, District of Columbia 20036 Telephone: 202.955.8500 Facsimile: 202.467.0539 Richard B. Hankins Alston D. Correll Drew E. Lunt MCKENNA LONG & ALDRIDGE 303 Peachtree Street, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Telephone: 404.527.4000 Facsimile: 404.527.4198 Attorneys for The Boeing Company
J. Michael Luttig Bryan H. Baumeister Brett C. Gerry Eric B. Wolff THE BOEING COMPANY 100 N. Riverside Plaza Chicago, IL 60606
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 I. BACKGROUND & FACTS ................................................................................................4 A. B. C. II. The first and second final assembly lines for Boeing‘s 787 Dreamliner. ..............................................................................................................4 Production stability, discussions with the IAM, and Boeing‘s selection of Charleston. ............................................................................................5 The charge and complaint. .......................................................................................9
LEGAL PRINCIPLES & ARGUMENT ...........................................................................10 A. Boeing‘s public statements did not violate Section 8(a)(1). ..................................12 1. 2. B. Employers may lawfully make statements of objective fact, predictions of future events, and views about unionism. ...........................12 Boeing‘s statements are lawful under settled precedent. ...........................13
Boeing‘s location of the second 787 final assembly line and its dual sourcing decision did not violate Section 8(a)(3). .........................................18 1. Opening a new final assembly line in Charleston and implementing a dual source plan did not cause any adverse employment actions in Everett...................................................................18 Boeing‘s motives, as alleged in the complaint, were lawful. .....................21
Boeing and its South Carolina employees should not have to live under a cloud of possible shutdown; the requested remedy for Boeing to ―operate‖ the second final assembly line in Everett should be stricken. .................................................................................................25
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................28
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Am. Ship Building Co. v. NLRB, 380 U.S. 300 ......................................................................................................... 21, 22, 29 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937 (2009) ...................................................................................................... 10 Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U. S. 544 (2007) ......................................................................................................... 10 Betts Cadillac Olds, Inc., 96 N.L.R.B. 268 (1951) .................................................................................................... 24 Charles D. Bonanno Linen Serv., Inc. v. NLRB, 454 U.S. 404 (1982) .......................................................................................................... 22 Coronet Foods v. NLRB, 158 F.3d 782 (4th Cir. 1993) ............................................................................................ 26 Crown Cork & Seal Co. v. NLRB, 36 F.3d 1130 (D.C. Cir. 1994) .................................................................................... 13, 16 Democratic Union Organizing Comm. v. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862 (D.C. Cir. 1978) .......................................................................................... 24 eBay Inc. v. mercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388 (2006) .......................................................................................................... 27 Exxel/Atmos, Inc. v. NLRB, 147 F.3d 972 (D.C. Cir. 1998) .......................................................................................... 12 Frito-Lay, Inc. v. NLRB, 585 F.2d 62 (3d Cir. 1978)................................................................................................ 26 Gen. Elec. Co. v. NLRB, 117 F.3d 627 (D.C. Cir. 1997) ........................................................................ 13, 15, 16, 17 In re Saginaw Control & Eng’g, Inc., 339 N.L.R.B. 541 (2003) .................................................................................................. 12 Int’l Bhd. of Boilermakers, Local 88 v. NLRB, 858 F.2d 756 (D.C. Cir. 1965) .......................................................................................... 25 Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs, Local 470, AFL-CIO v. NLRB, 350 F.3d 105 (D.C. Cir. 2003) .......................................................................................... 18 Lancaster Fairfield Community Hosp., 311 N.L.R.B. 401 (1993) ............................................................................................ 18, 19 Lear Siegler, Inc., 295 N.L.R.B. 857 (1989) ............................................................................................ 25, 26
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Page(s) Local 702, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, AFL–CIO v. NLRB, 215 F.3d 11 (D.C. Cir. 2000) ...................................................................................... 23, 24 Miller Indus. Towing Equip., Inc., 342 N.L.R.B. 1074 (2004) .............................................................................. 13, 15, 16, 17 NLRB v. Brown, 380 U.S. 278 (1965) ................................................................................................ 3, 16, 22 NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575 (1969) ................................................................................................ 3, 12, 14 NLRB v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 388 U.S. 26 (1967) ...................................................................................................... 21, 23 NLRB v. Ins. Agents’ Int’l Union, AFL–CIO, 361 U.S. 477 (1960) .......................................................................................................... 24 NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Tel. Co., 304 U.S. 333 (1938) .......................................................................................................... 21 NLRB v. R & H Masonry Supply, Inc., 627 F.2d 1013 (9th Cir. 1980) .......................................................................................... 26 NLRB v. Townhouse TV & Appliances, Inc., 531 F.2d 826 (7th Cir. 1976) ............................................................................................ 26 NLRB v. Village IX, 723 F.2d 1360 (7th Cir. 1983) .......................................................................................... 13 Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U.S. 177 (1941) .......................................................................................................... 25 P.S. Elliot Servs., 300 N.L.R.B. 1161 (1990) ................................................................................................ 13 Renton News Record, 136 N.L.R.B. 1294 (1962) ................................................................................................ 27 Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 147 N.L.R.B. 788 (1964) .................................................................................................. 27 Wright Line, 251 N.L.R.B. 1083 (1980) ................................................................................................ 18 Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) ............................................................................................................ 1 Statutes 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1) .................................................................................................................... 13 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3) .............................................................................................................. 20, 22 29 U.S.C. § 158(c) ........................................................................................................................ 13
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (continued) Page(s) Other Authorities Dominic Gates, Boeing’s top customer predicts big production cuts, Seattle Times, Feb. 6, 2009 ................................................................................................. 6 Dominic Gates, Boeing to duplicate Puget Sound work for 787, Seattle Times, Dec. 7, 2009 .............................................................................................. 16 Dominic Gates, Machinists File Unfair Labor Charge Against Boeing Over Charleston, Seattle Times, June 4, 2010............................................................................. 3 Steve Wilhelm, Boeing moves to maintain S.C. 787 line in a strike, Puget Sound Business Journal, Dec. 8, 2009 .................................................................... 18
INTRODUCTION The Acting General Counsel‘s complaint defies more than 40 years of precedent and would effect a governmental intrusion into an American business not seen since Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952). The complaint seeks a declaration that Boeing‘s decision to locate a new assembly line and supply chain for its 787 Dreamliner in the State of South Carolina outside of Boeing‘s existing bargaining unit violates Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the NLRA, and requests as a ―remedy‖ an order commanding Boeing ―to have the Unit operate its second line of 787 Dreamliner aircraft assembly production in the State of Washington, utilizing supply lines maintained by the Unit in the Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, area facilities.‖ Compl. ¶ 13(a). The complaint—on its face—fails to state a claim, and the remedy sought is breathtaking, legally indefensible, and profoundly unjust. The mere pendency of this complaint, and the lengthy proceedings that are scheduled to follow, cast a shadow over the future of a billion-dollar corporate investment, the lives of more than a thousand Boeing employees in South Carolina, and the economic recovery of an entire State. Boeing respectfully asks that, under these circumstances, its argument that the complaint fails to state a claim under clearly settled Board precedents is appropriately addressed at the outset of these proceedings. In the alternative, the extraordinary and unjustified remedy It is indisputably the most
proposed in ¶ 13(a) of the complaint should be struck.
consequential—and destructive—remedy ever sought by an officer of the NLRB. To begin with the remedy sought: This complaint arises out of Boeing‘s 2009 business decision to place a new, second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line in Charleston, South Carolina. That facility has been built; Boeing has already trained and hired more than 1,000 employees to build 787s at that facility; and the Company will begin assembling its first 787 there in a matter of weeks. The Acting General Counsel expressly seeks, in his Complaint, an 1
order directing Boeing to ―operate‖ this line in Puget Sound, Washington. While the Acting General Counsel now disclaims any intent to close Boeing‘s new facility in Charleston, his office previously stated that it intends to ―mothball‖ that facility, and that, in fact, is the necessary implication of the remedy the Acting General Counsel seeks. The new Charleston facility is equipped—and the new workforce trained—specifically to build 787s, not other airplanes, and the proposed remedy would require Boeing to conduct all of its planned 787 assembly in Everett. In an immensely complex manufacturing business where production decisions require years of lead time, the complaint‘s disclaimer that Boeing at some point in the future might be able to conduct different work in Charleston offers no comfort at all—either to the Company, or to its thousand new employees who would no longer have any work to do. The proposed remedy is therefore as draconian as it is unprecedented. This is all the more extraordinary given that the complaint fails, for multiple reasons and under clearly settled and governing law, even to state a claim for the legal violations of the National Labor Relations Act it asserts. The complaint contends that Boeing‘s decision to place the second line in Charleston constitutes illegal ―retaliation‖ for the IAM‘s past strikes, in violation of Section 8(a)(3) of the Act. But it is an indispensible prerequisite to such a violation that the employer‘s action caused a represented employee to lose his or her job, or otherwise to suffer an adverse employment action. The Acting General Counsel‘s complaint does not allege that a single current IAM member suffered such an action here, and that is because he cannot; the new facility in Charleston involves new, rather than existing, production capacity. While the complaint alleges, disingenuously and without explanation, that Boeing ―transfer[ed] its second 787 Dreamliner production line of 3 planes per month‖ and ―a sourcing supply program for its 787 Dreamliner production line‖ ―from the Unit to its non-union site in North Charleston, South
Carolina,‖ Complaint ¶¶ 7(a), 8(a), the complaint‘s conspicuous failure to identify an injury to an actual bargaining unit employee is telling—and fatal. Indeed, Regional Director Ahearn, who signed the Acting General Counsel‘s complaint, conceded as much more than a year ago when he acknowledged that Boeing had not ―moved existing work from Everett,‖ but rather had ―plac[ed] new work in South Carolina.‖ Dominic Gates, Machinists File Unfair Labor Charge Against Boeing Over Charleston, Seattle Times, June 4, 2010. And even if one indulged the fiction that Boeing had ―transferred‖ 787 work from Everett to Charleston, the complaint would still fail to state a claim as a matter of law, as the Acting General Counsel has failed to allege that Boeing‘s decision was motivated by anti-union animus. The only evidence the Acting General Counsel points to in his complaint to support his claim of retaliation—and his parallel Section 8(a)(1) claim that Boeing has made coercive ―threats‖ against union employees—are certain specified public statements by Boeing‘s executives and representatives. As will be shown below, these statements, which the Acting General Counsel misquotes and mischaracterizes, establish at most that Boeing considered the risk and costs of future strikes in making its decision to place its new facility in South Carolina—a consideration that the Board has previously expressly acknowledged to be ―legitimate[].‖ NLRB v. Brown, 380 U.S. 278, 283 & n.3 (1965). And, as the Acting General Counsel‘s allegations of anti-union bias must fall, so, too, must his allegations of violations of Section 8(a)(1), which are predicated on the same misquoted and mischaracterized statements of Boeing officials. Those statements, accurately quoted, recount the entirely legitimate role that Boeing‘s pressing need for production stability in its 787 program played in its second-line decision—and the law has been clear for 40 years that statements of historical facts cannot be construed as coercive or threatening. See NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. 575, 618 (1969).
In short, the complaint not only fails to state a claim as a matter of law: it is inexplicable, both in its legal theory and in the radical remedy it seeks. And the actions of the Acting General Counsel since the filing of the complaint—including the issuance of a sweeping subpoena that on its terms calls for millions of documents—suggest the prospect of a fishing expedition and drawn-out proceedings, perhaps to find support (or a legal theory) for a violation that the complaint plainly lacks. The appropriate response to this unprecedented action by the Acting General Counsel is what this motion proposes. In the alternative, the remedy proposed at ¶ 13(a) of the complaint cannot and should not be sustained. Boeing, its employees in South Carolina and their families, and Boeing‘s customers and suppliers should not have to live for months or years under the cloud of that possible remedy. It can and should be struck now. I. BACKGROUND & FACTS
The factual background offered below recounts the facts alleged in the complaint as well as other facts necessary for context or for evaluating the proposed remedy. To the extent facts outside the complaint are discussed, it is Boeing‘s position that those facts are not necessary to a determination that the complaint fails to state a claim, but rather are responsive to the court‘s request for pre-hearing briefs on this subject, and to further establish the inequity of the remedy sought by the Acting General Counsel in this case. A. The first and second final assembly lines for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The 787 Dreamliner is Boeing‘s latest generation of commercial aircraft, using lightweight composite materials to create one of the most fuel-efficient, technologicallyadvanced passenger planes in the world. After consideration of multiple sites, including
Charleston, Boeing decided in 2003 to establish its first 787 final assembly line in Everett, Washington, where Boeing builds its other twin-aisle commercial airplanes.
Since the 787 was first announced, customers have placed orders for about 850 airplanes, making it the fastest-selling plane in aviation history. Those orders have produced a backlog extending through approximately 2020. Boeing concluded that to address this overwhelming customer demand and backlog it needed to expand its 787 production capacity by establishing a second final assembly line. After extensive study of potential sites, the choice came down to Charleston, where the aft and mid-body sections of the 787 currently are constructed, and Everett, where Boeing operates the first 787 final assembly line. B. Production stability, discussions with the IAM, and Boeing’s selection of Charleston. Boeing‘s airplane production and maintenance workers in Washington State are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, District Lodge 751 (―IAM,‖ ―Union,‖ or ―Charging Party‖). Section 21.7 of Boeing‘s collective
bargaining agreement with the IAM, a provision in place for over 45 years, authorizes Boeing to ―designate the work to be performed by the Company and the places where it is to be performed‖ without negotiating with the IAM. Ex. A. Notwithstanding Boeing‘s rights under the collective bargaining agreement, Boeing invited the IAM to discuss the possible placement of the second final assembly line in Everett and Boeing‘s desire to obtain, among other things, a long-term contract with a no-strike clause to provide production stability for the 787. Boeing‘s concerns with production stability are well-founded. The IAM has struck Boeing seven times at its Puget Sound facilities since 1934, four times since 1989. In 2008, the last time the IAM‘s collective bargaining agreement expired, union members, including those assigned to the 787 production line, went on strike for 58 days. That strike cost Boeing $1.8 billion in lost revenues, and damaged its reputation for reliability. For example, Virgin Blue Group CEO and Boeing customer Richard Branson described the consequences of the delay
caused by the 2008 strike as ―catastrophic,‖ and stated that ―if there‘s a risk of further strikes in the future, he may not buy Boeing again.‖ Dominic Gates, Boeing’s top customer predicts big production cuts, Seattle Times, Feb. 6, 2009. Mr. Branson explained the effect the strike had on his airline because planes were not available: ―It was a horrible mess that Boeing was on strike. We messed up tens of thousands of passengers over Christmas . . . . We had to buy tickets on other airlines and scramble to get seats which weren‘t available.‖ Id. Boeing‘s current collective bargaining agreement with the IAM expires next year. Boeing first told the IAM that a second 787 line likely would be needed to meet customer demand as early as the summer of 2008. In June 2009, Boeing informed the IAM that a decision where to locate the second assembly line would occur by October 15, 2009. The IAM agreed to discuss the issue, and discussions began in earnest that August. Representatives of the IAM and Boeing met seven times between August 27 and October 21. Boeing‘s primary goals for the discussions were to obtain a longer-term collective bargaining agreement that restored and safeguarded Boeing‘s production stability and also imposed constraints on the growth of future wage increases and benefit costs to ensure that Boeing remained economically competitive in an increasingly fierce global marketplace for commercial aircraft, in which Boeing will need to compete against not only Airbus, Boeing‘s traditional rival, but new or potential overseas competitors in China, Russia, Canada, and Brazil. The IAM declined to agree to a long-term extension of the collective bargaining agreement unless Boeing would agree to extraordinary guaranteed wage and benefit increases, an assurance that all future commercial aircraft work would be placed in Everett, and a commitment that Boeing would remain neutral in future IAM organizing efforts in other parts of the country. Although Boeing officials stressed, among other things, that Boeing could not accept ―neutrality‖
or a ―guarantee‖ of future work in Puget Sound, the IAM maintained those and other conditions throughout the negotiations. The negotiations concluded on October 21 after Boeing gave the IAM a one-week extension for its best and final offer. The Union‘s final offer continued to link the long-term extension Boeing sought to a neutrality condition and guarantee of future work in the Puget Sound area, as well as continued escalation of wages and benefits. Boeing made its decision concerning the placement of the second line in late October 2009. Given its significance, the decision involved the most senior management undertaking a thorough comparison of the business cases for each alternative. The IAM‘s extensive demands in return for a promise of long-term production stability in Puget Sound were an important consideration in the discussion, and it strengthened the overall business case for Charleston, as did the general business climate in South Carolina, the desire for geographical diversity in final assembly facilities, lower labor costs, and South Carolina‘s willingness to make available hundreds of millions of dollars of incentives. After fully evaluating the competing business cases for Charleston and for Everett, Boeing chose Charleston and announced its decision on October 28, 2009. In conjunction with its decision to select Charleston for the second final assembly line, Boeing made two other decisions concerning the 787 program. First, to mitigate risk associated with the opening of the new assembly line in Charleston, and to facilitate the introduction of a new version of the Dreamliner—the 787-9, a larger variant of the 787—in Everett, Boeing decided to create a transitional ―surge line‖ in Everett to assist the Company in its efforts to achieve its planned overall production rate of ten 787s per month. Boeing is now in the process of re-purposing and committing facilities and equipment in Everett to create the surge line, which is planned to commence operations in mid-2012; the surge line did not exist at the time of
the decision to locate in Charleston and it does not yet exist. Accordingly, there was no IAM employee working on that line and no IAM employee has yet begun work on that line. Once it comes on-line, the surge line is planned to produce 787s until 2014, by which point in time it is expected that the Everett line and the new Charleston line will be able to accommodate the planned rate of ten planes per month, and the introduction of the new 787-9 derivative. Boeing expects that, when the surge line is phased out, the overall demand for aircraft in Puget Sound— where Boeing builds not only the 787, but also its 737, 747, 767, and 777 commercial aircraft— will result in Boeing shifting the facilities and employees previously dedicated to the 787 surge line to other production lines in Puget Sound. Second, Boeing sought to enhance the stability of production of the second final assembly line in Charleston through a ―dual sourcing‖ program. The objective of the dualsourcing program is to provide the Charleston facility with sources for Boeing-manufactured components (e.g., vertical fins, interiors, and machine parts) independent from the sources in the Puget Sound and Portland that supply the first final assembly line in Everett. Apparently recognizing that these decisions did not affect Unit employees, the IAM did not file any grievance under the CBA complaining that Boeing had failed to comply with notice requirements with respect to decisions that affect ten or more Unit employees. See Ex. A. Immediately following Boeing‘s decision to place the second 787 line in Charleston, Boeing undertook an aggressive construction and hiring schedule there and began training employees to work on the 787, using processes specific to the assembly of that composite airplane. On November 6, 2009, Boeing awarded a fast-paced design-build construction contract to deliver the 1.2 million square foot Charleston assembly line facility within 18 months. That facility is now complete and Boeing has hired and trained approximately 1,000 workers for the
Charleston line to begin production next month, with the first airplane deliveries from the Charleston line expected in early 2012. Thereafter, production will increase to three planes a month there. During the period of time since Boeing selected Charleston for the second line, Boeing also has increased IAM employment in Puget Sound by over 3,000 additional employees. C. The charge and complaint. In March 2010—five months after Boeing announced its decision and with construction in Charleston well under way—the IAM filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Board alleging that Boeing had violated Sections 8(a)(1), (a)(3), and (a)(5) of the NLRA by ―threatening bargaining unit members,‖ ―beginning the process of transferring work . . . to a new plant employing non-union workers,‖ and ―failing to bargain in good faith.‖ Boeing cooperated with the Regional Office‘s investigation, producing numerous documents and twice meeting personally with the Acting General Counsel. On April 20, 2011, the Acting General Counsel, through the Regional Director, issued the complaint in this matter. Notwithstanding the increase in work and concomitant increase in IAM employees in Everett since the Charleston decision, the complaint alleges that Boeing violated Section 8(a)(1) by ―ma[king] coercive statements . . . that it would remove or had removed work from the Unit because employees had struck,‖ and by ―threaten[ing] or impliedly threaten[ing] that the Unit would lose additional work in the event of future strikes.‖ Compl. ¶ 6. The complaint also alleges that Boeing violated Section 8(a)(3) by ―discriminating in regard to the hire or tenure or terms or conditions of employment . . . thereby discouraging membership in a labor organization,‖ allegedly by ―decid[ing] to transfer its second 787 Dreamliner production line of 3 planes per month‖ and by ―decid[ing] to transfer a sourcing supply program‖ from Everett to Charleston. Compl. ¶¶ 10, 7(a), 8(a). According to the
complaint, Boeing‘s decision was ―inherently destructive‖ of protected rights even though the 9
applicable collective bargaining agreement gave Boeing the right to place work at the location of its choice without any obligation to bargain. And while the complaint alleges a ―transfer‖ of the second line, it does not explain how a second line that never existed in Everett could be transferred to Charleston. Nor does the complaint elaborate how the alleged ―transfer‖ adversely affected current Union members with regard to hire, tenure, wages or other terms or conditions of employment. The complaint relies solely on five statements made by Boeing officials to support its allegations under Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) that Boeing‘s decision was motivated by an intent to coerce, threaten, or retaliate against Union members based upon past strikes. Compl. ¶ 6. The complaint does not pursue the Section 8(a)(5) charge made by the Union that Boeing failed to bargain in good faith. II. LEGAL PRINCIPLES & ARGUMENT
Pursuant to Section 10(b), this tribunal is obligated to conduct this hearing ―under the rules of civil procedure for the district courts of the United States,‖ including Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Under that rule, though ―detailed factual allegations‖ are not required, a complaint must be dismissed if it does not allege sufficient factual matter that, if accepted as true, ―state[s] a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.‖ Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 570 (2007). ―Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.‖ Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009). Nor do statements that establish only ―the mere possibility of misconduct.‖ Id. at 1950. Yet, even setting aside Twombly‘s ―facial plausibility standard,‖ the Acting General Counsel‘s complaint still should be dismissed because, put simply, what the complaint alleges were violations of the NLRA are not violations of the NLRA at all under existing precedent. The Acting General Counsel rests his Section 8(a)(1) charge on certain statements of Boeing executives made to the public or reported through the media, but those statements only 10
accurately recounted the role that Boeing‘s pressing need for production stability in its 787 program played in its second-line decision. For more than 40 years—at least since Gissel Packing—the law has been clear that truthful statements of historical fact cannot reasonably be construed as coercive or threatening of employees. The Acting General Counsel‘s claim under Section 8(a)(3) likewise is foreclosed by controlling authorities. Section 8(a)(3) itself makes clear that there can be no violation by the employer unless there is an act of discrimination with respect to ―hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment.‖ Yet the Acting General Counsel does not—because he cannot—allege that even a single Unit member has lost his or her job, had his or her wages reduced, or suffered any other change in the terms and conditions of his or her employment as a result of Boeing‘s decision to locate its second 787 line in Charleston. Instead, the Acting General Counsel alleges a ―transfer‖ of ―work‖ away from the Unit. There was no such
―transfer‖; the second line was, as the Regional Director previously conceded, new work. But even if Boeing had transferred work previously committed to the Unit, there still could not be an 8(a)(3) violation without a change in the terms and conditions of employment of an actual Unit employee, which the complaint fails to allege. Moreover, the Supreme Court‘s decision in Brown makes clear that an employer‘s intent to blunt the impact of future strikes—which is the very most the statements cited in the complaint could establish—does not suffice to demonstrate the anti-union animus necessary to sustain a charge under Section 8(a)(3). If the complaint is not dismissed in its entirety, at a minimum, this tribunal should strike the Acting General Counsel‘s requested relief of an injunction commanding Boeing to ―operate the second line in Everett‖ at untold cost to Boeing and the people of South Carolina. The Board‘s remedial powers are limited to placing the parties in the position they would have
occupied but for the alleged unfair labor practice. Applying that principle here would lead not to an unprecedented injunction commanding Boeing to build an assembly line and supply chain in a place of the Board‘s choosing, but instead the more modest relief of restoring each affected Unit employee to the terms and conditions of employment he or she held on the date of Boeing‘s second-line decision. Inasmuch as there is no conceivable legal basis for the Acting General Counsel‘s requested relief, that request, at least, should be stricken. A. Boeing’s public statements did not violate Section 8(a)(1). 1. Employers may lawfully make statements of objective fact, predictions of future events, and views about unionism.
Section 8(a)(1) makes it unlawful for an employer to ―interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise‖ of their Section 7 rights, but employer statements that ―contain[] no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit‖ cannot be the basis of a violation. 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(1), (c). Whether an employer statement violates Section 8(a)(1) turns on an objective test: whether the statement would tend to coerce a ―reasonable employee.‖ In re Saginaw Control & Eng’g, Inc., 339 N.L.R.B. 541, 541 (2003) (citation and quotation marks omitted). The Board considers the ―context‖ of the statement and the ―totality of the relevant circumstances‖ in making that determination. Id. Neither a ―truthful statement of objective fact‖ nor a prediction about the future ―phrased on the basis of objective fact,‖ including ―economic necessities,‖ violates Section 8(a)(1). Gissel Packing Co., 395 U.S. at 618; see also Exxel/Atmos, Inc. v. NLRB, 147 F.3d 972, 975 (D.C. Cir. 1998).1 Thus, an employer is free to make predictions about events that might ―occur . . .
1 See also Miller Indus. Towing Equip., Inc., 342 N.L.R.B. 1074, 1075–76 (2004) (protecting employer statements about the company‘s ―economic condition,‖ ―sales figures,‖ and competitive position, because they were supported by ―demonstrable facts,‖ ―verifiable accounts of past events,‖ ―realities of the business [situation],‖ and ―actual
because of the ordinary operations of a market economy.‖ Crown Cork & Seal Co. v. NLRB, 36 F.3d 1130, 1134 (D.C. Cir. 1994); see also NLRB v. Village IX, 723 F.2d 1360, 1367 (7th Cir. 1983) (―To predict a consequence that will occur no matter how well disposed the company is toward unions is not to threaten retaliation.‖). Particularly, the Board has protected employer speech concerning ―what might result in the event of a strike‖ because it was ―an apt description of the likely effects of interrupted production.‖ Miller, 342 N.L.R.B. at 1076. Discussion of the impacts of strikes, including ―interrupting shipments to customers‖ and difficulty ―maintaining competitive position‖ are permissible because they reflect economic realities ―beyond the employer‘s control.‖ Gen. Elec. Co. v. NLRB, 117 F.3d 627, 633 (D.C. Cir. 1997). 2. Boeing’s statements are lawful under settled precedent.
The complaint alleges that five statements by Boeing and its senior executives violated Section 8(a)(1): (1) an October 21, 2009 earnings call led by James McNerney, Boeing‘s President and CEO; (2) a Boeing internal memorandum dated October 28, 2009, entitled ―787 Second Line, Questions and Answers for Managers‖; (3) a December 7, 2009 article in the Seattle Times regarding Boeing‘s decision about dual-sourcing; (4) a December 8, 2009 article in the Puget Sound Business Journal also about dual-sourcing; and (5) a March 2010 interview of James Albaugh (currently CEO of Boeing Commercial Airlines) by Dominic Gates of the Seattle Times. See Compl. ¶¶ 6(a)–(e). The Acting General Counsel alleges that, through these
statements, Boeing effectively told its employees ―that it would remove or had removed work from the Unit‖ and ―threatened or impliedly threatened that the Unit would lose additional work in the event of future strikes.‖ Id. ¶ 6.
occurrences‖); P.S. Elliot Servs., 300 N.L.R.B. 1161, 1162 (1990) (protecting a ―truthful statement of an objective fact,‖ in a meeting with the displaced employer‘s workforce, that the employer ―was a non-union company‖).
When viewed in context—as Board precedent requires—the statements are plainly lawful. They accurately recite the factors Boeing was considering (in the case of the October 21, 2009 earnings call) or had considered (in the case of the other four statements) in deciding where to locate its second 787 assembly line, including the company‘s pressing need for production continuity and the inability of the company to achieve that continuity in Everett. The complaint conjures a violation of Section 8(a)(1) only by flagrantly misquoting and mischaracterizing the statements. For example, the complaint alleges that Mr. McNerney, in the October 21, 2009 earnings call, stated that Boeing was ―‗diversifying [Boeing‘s] labor pool and labor relationship,‘ and moving the 787 Dreamliner work to South Carolina due to ‗strikes happening every three to four years in Puget Sound.‘‖ Compl. ¶ 6(a). Yet, the transcript of that call itself makes clear—and no one disputes—that Boeing had not yet reached a decision about where to place the new second 787 line; Boeing would be choosing between ―Everett and Charleston . . . over the next couple of weeks.‖ The Boeing Company, Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript (Oct. 21, 2009), Ex. B at 18. And in discussing the relative merits of those sites, what Mr. McNerney actually said is that ―diversifying [Boeing‘s] labor pool and labor relationship has some benefits‖ and that ―modest inefficiencies . . . associated with the move to Charleston[] are certainly more than overcome by strikes happening every three or four years in Puget Sound.‖ Id. at 19. Those actual words cannot possibly be construed as threatening or coercive. The first fragment—concerning the benefits of diversification—is a self-evident statement of fact, protected at least since the Supreme Court‘s 1969 decision in Gissel Packing Company. See 395 U.S. at 618. The second fragment—weighing the relative inefficiencies of opening a new facility and suffering regular work stoppages—is nothing more than an executive‘s truthful assessment of business realities of
the type the Board previously acknowledged ―cannot be reasonably described as a threat.‖ Miller, 342 N.L.R.B. at 1076. The complaint similarly misquotes and mischaracterizes Mr. Albaugh‘s March 2010 interview with the Seattle Times. Without quoting a single word of the 19-page interview, the Acting General Counsel alleges that Mr. Albaugh stated that Boeing ―decided to locate its 787 Dreamliner second line in South Carolina because of past Unit strikes, and threatened the loss of future Unit work opportunities because of such strikes.‖ Compl. ¶ 6(e). Mr. Albaugh said no such thing. In response to the interviewer‘s question about ―Boeing‘s commitment to ―Well this is the headquarters of Boeing
Washington State,‖ Mr. Albaugh responded:
Commercial Aircraft. And it will be I think for probably forever.‖ Interview of James Albaugh (Mar. 1, 2010), Ex. F at 1. Indeed, he repeatedly emphasized his ―preference‖ to continue to operate and place new work in the Puget Sound region and that ―there are no discussions of moving any work that‘s currently here out of Puget Sound.‖ Id. at 1, 2, 3. Explaining the Company‘s decision to locate the second 787 assembly line in Charleston, Mr. Albaugh did not attribute it simply to ―past Unit strikes,‖ but instead explained that ―it was really about how we could ensure production stability and how we could ensure that we remain competitive for the long haul.‖ Id. And when looking toward Boeing‘s future work location decisions, Mr. Albaugh similarly noted the paramount importance of a ―stable production line‖ and remaining ―competitive for the long haul,‖ but also stated clearly that ―the first preference is to put the work here,‖ which is to say, in Everett, if those objectives could be achieved. Id. at 2. It is settled law that such statements do not constitute a threat of retaliation for the exercise of Section 7 rights. See, e.g., Gen. Elec., 117 F.3d at 633. Where an employer conveys the risks associated with the exercise of Section 7 rights, there is no threat of retaliation where
the risks described are grounded in ―objective factors beyond the employer‘s control.‖ Id. at 634; see also Crown Cork, 36 F.3d at 1140. It is a self-evident objective fact that strikes diminish production stability and hamper a business‘s ability to compete in the marketplace, and it is an economic reality that businesses generally will seek to avoid exposure to strikes. Accordingly, authoritative precedent confirms that statements that strikes risked ―interrupt[ing] shipments to customers‖ and damaging a business‘s ―competitive position‖ and therefore could ―lead . . . the parent company to invest[] elsewhere‖—precisely the concerns expressed by Mr. Albaugh in the interview—cannot give rise to Section 8(a)(1) liability. Gen. Elec., 117 F.3d at 633–34; see also Miller, 342 N.L.R.B. at 1076 (holding lawful employer‘s statements about ―what might result in the event of a strike,‖ which was ―an apt description of the likely effects of interrupted production‖).2 The complaint‘s reliance on two newspaper articles reporting on the dual-sourcing decision is equally misplaced. The Acting General Counsel alleges that, in these articles, Boeing officials stated that Boeing made the dual-sourcing decision due to ―past Unit strikes,‖ Compl. ¶ 6(c)-(d), but the articles—much less the quotes attributable to Boeing officials—say nothing of the sort. Rather, both articles make clear that the dual-sourcing decision was made to enable Boeing to continue producing 787s in Charleston in the event of a future strike by the IAM in Everett. See Dominic Gates, Boeing to duplicate Puget Sound work for 787, Seattle Times, Dec. 7, 2009, Ex. D at 1 (statement by Proulx that: ―With a second supplier for every part,
2 For the same reasons, Boeing‘s internal October 28, 2009, memorandum entitled ―787 Second Line, Questions and Answers for Managers,‖ see Ex. C, which the Acting General Counsel alleges told employees that Boeing‘s ―decision to locate the second 787 Dreamliner line in South Carolina was made in order to reduce [Boeing‘s] vulnerability to delivery disruptions caused by work stoppages,‖ Compl. ¶ 6(b), cannot be a basis for Section 8(a)(1) liability. The Acting General Counsel‘s reliance on this document is misplaced for the additional reason that the Supreme Court has held—at the Board‘s urging—that an ―employer may legitimately blunt the effectiveness of an anticipated strike . . . without violating . . . § 8(a)(1).‖ Brown, 380 U.S. at 283.
Boeing potentially could continue producing Dreamliners in South Carolina even if the Machinists went on strike here‖). As Ray Conner explained in the internal memorandum cited by both articles, this dual-sourcing was necessary to ―maintain production stability and be a reliable supplier to our customers.‖ Steve Wilhelm, Boeing moves to maintain S.C. 787 line in a strike, Puget Sound Business Journal, Dec. 8, 2009, Ex. E at 1. The Supreme Court has long recognized that efforts to blunt the effectiveness of future strikes—even those announced as such—are economic weapons an employer legitimately may employ in its dealings with a union. See Brown, 380 U.S. at 283. And to the extent Boeing announced the dual-source decision by reference to past strikes at all, Boeing grounded its discussion of the consequences of those strikes in the objective fact beyond the company‘s control that the strikes ―have affected our performance in our customers‘ eyes‖ and that measures accordingly needed to be taken ―to show our customers we can be a reliable supplier to them.‖ Ex. D at 1. Under General Electric and subsequent Board authority, there is no threat of retaliation that reasonably may be perceived in such a statement. Gen. Elec., 117 F.3d at 633–34; see also Miller, 342 N.L.R.B. at 1076. The statements cited by the Acting General Counsel demonstrate only that the damage past IAM strikes did to Boeing‘s production stability and competitiveness played a significant role in Boeing‘s second-line and dual-sourcing decisions. But it is not illegal for an employer to make accurate statements of historical fact—as each of the five statements cited by the Acting General Counsel were. Nor does it violate Section 8(a)(1) for an employer to advise a union that the exercise of their Section 7 rights in the future inevitably has economic consequences to which the company may need to respond. That is the most than can be made of the statements cited in the complaint. They do not remotely approach the threats of reprisal or coercion
necessary to make out a violation of Section 8(a)(1) and the Acting General Counsel‘s claim under that section accordingly should be dismissed. B. Boeing’s location of the second 787 final assembly line and its dual sourcing decision did not violate Section 8(a)(3). Section 8(a)(3) prohibits employers from affecting employees‘ ―hire or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment‖ in order to discourage participation in protected activities. To establish a violation of Section 8(a)(3), the Acting General Counsel must show: (1) that ―an employee‘s employment conditions were adversely affected‖; and (2) that the adverse employment action ―was motivated by‖ the employee‘s ―union or other protected activities.‖ Wright Line, 251 N.L.R.B. 1083, 1083 (1980); see also Int’l Union of Operating Eng’rs, Local 470, AFL-CIO v. NLRB, 350 F.3d 105, 110 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (―Tenneco‖). In Boeing‘s case, the Acting General Counsel can show neither that any employees‘ terms and conditions of employment were affected nor that Boeing acted with an unlawful intent. 1. Opening a new final assembly line in Charleston and implementing a dual source plan did not cause any adverse employment actions in Everett.
Section 8(a)(3) prohibits discrimination in the ―hir[ing] or tenure of employment or any term or condition of employment.‖ 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3); Lancaster Fairfield Community Hosp., 311 N.L.R.B. 401, 403–04 (1993) (a non-disciplinary counseling report does not satisfy Section 8(a)(3) because it does ―not affect ‗any term or condition of employment‘‖). The complaint alleges that Boeing violated Section 8(a)(3) by ―decid[ing] to transfer its second Dreamliner production line of 3 planes per month from the Unit to its non-union site in North Charleston, South Carolina‖ and ―transfer[ring] a sourcing supply program‖ (i.e., the dual source plan). Compl. ¶¶ 7(a), 8(a), 10. But the complaint noticeably fails to allege that any
current Unit employee has been laid off, or that any of the specific terms or conditions of employment of any Unit employee have been adversely affected as a result of those decisions. Nor does the complaint allege that layoffs or other changes to the terms and conditions of employment are imminent or planned. And neither does the complaint allege—because it could not—that any IAM employee possessed any entitlement to any of the work allegedly ―transferred.‖ Without any of these allegations, the Acting General Counsel‘s Section 8(a)(3) claim cannot stand. Transferring ―work‖ of a ―production line‖ or a ―supply program‖ away from a bargaining unit without more cannot constitute an adverse employment action. There must be a change in the terms and conditions of employment of actual Unit employees—real people. See Lancaster Fairfield, 311 N.L.R.B. at 403. But the Acting General Counsel has leveled no such allegation here. Nor could he in good faith because it is undisputed that no Unit members have lost their jobs, had their wages reduced, or suffered any other adverse changes in the terms and conditions of their employment as a result of Boeing‘s decision to locate the second 787 line and supply chain outside the Unit. To the contrary—and accentuating the absurdity of the proposed remedy—since the second-line decision, Boeing has added more than 3,000 Unit employees. But even if ―transferring work‖ itself could constitute a change in the terms or conditions of employment for the purposes of Section 8(a)(3), here there has been no such transfer. As Regional Director Ahearn previously acknowledged, the ―work‖ about to begin in Charleston never existed in Everett. Work that never existed in Everett could not have been transferred away from Everett. The construction of a second final assembly line—whether located in Everett or Charleston—was required to expand Boeing‘s 787 production capacity beyond the
seven planes per month Boeing planned to achieve on the first 787 assembly line in Everett. That increase in Boeing‘s 787 assembly capacity was new work. Nor can Boeing‘s as-yet uncompleted plans to establish a transitional surge line in Everett constitute an adverse employment action. As an initial matter, the surge line is not yet operational, and is not expected to be until mid-2012; Boeing still is in the process of repurposing and committing the facilities and equipment needed for the line. No current IAM employee now works on the surge line, much less is in any conceivable danger of being laid off from that position. The transitional surge line is not even planned to be phased out until what would be years from now, in mid-2014, once the Charleston and Everett assembly lines reach their planned production rates of ten per month, and the new 787-9 derivative has been introduced into the production system. At that distant point in the future, it is expected that the employees assigned to the surge line will be reassigned to other production lines in Puget Sound. Indeed, due to increased demand for several different Boeing airplane models, Boeing recently has hired more than 3,000 additional employees into the Puget Sound bargaining unit, and has publicly announced plans to hire many more. Any theory of adverse employment action arising from Boeing‘s decision to dedicate some of its facilities, equipment, and IAM-represented employees temporarily to a transitional surge line necessarily is predicated on bald speculation about what may happen to surge line employees years into the future. That kind of speculation, as a matter of law, fails to allege the adverse employment action that Section 8(a)(3) requires. The Acting General Counsel‘s inability to allege any adverse employment action against any IAM employee forecloses his Section 8(a)(3) claim. None of the indicia of a change in IAM employees‘ terms or conditions of employment are present here: They have not been laid off, demoted, relocated, suffered a reduction in wages, benefits or work hours, or had their job duties
changed as a result of the decision. Indeed, neither the Acting General Counsel nor the IAM can point to even one Unit employee who has been adversely impacted by Boeing‘s second-line and dual-sourcing decisions. Boeing‘s decision to place new work in Charleston simply did not affect the IAM employees, and the complaint does not allege otherwise. 2. Boeing’s motives, as alleged in the complaint, were lawful.
Even if the Acting General Counsel somehow establishes an adverse employment action, Boeing must have also acted with an unlawful motive: i.e., ―to . . . discourage membership in any labor organization.‖ 29 U.S.C. § 158(a)(3). The Acting General Counsel must show either: (1) that Boeing‘s choice of Charleston was ―inherently destructive‖ of protected activity, or (2) that Boeing was motivated by anti-union animus. See NLRB v. Great Dane Trailers, Inc., 388 U.S. 26, 33–34 (1967). The complaint alleges both theories of unlawful motive, Compl. ¶¶ 7–8, but there is no support for those allegations. A ―wide range of employer actions taken to serve legitimate business interests in some significant fashion‖ do not violate Section 8(a)(3) ―even though the act committed may tend to discourage union membership.‖ Am. Ship Building Co. v. NLRB, 380 U.S. 300, 311 (citing NLRB v. Mackay Radio & Tel. Co., 304 U.S. 333 (1938)). ―[T]here is nothing in the [NLRA] which gives employees the right to insist on their contract demands, free from the sort of economic disadvantages that frequently attends bargaining disputes.‖ Am. Ship Building Co., 380 U.S. at 313. Indeed, the Act ―do[es] not give the Board a general authority to assess the relative economic power of the adversaries and to deny weapons to one party or the other because of [the Board‘s] assessment of that party‘s bargaining power.‖ Id. at 317. Yet accepting the Acting General Counsel‘s Section 8(a)(3) theory would inflict just such a result, denying to Boeing its long-recognized right to take action to blunt the impact of future strikes.
Boeing’s decision was not inherently destructive of employee rights.
The Acting General Counsel‘s conclusory allegation that Boeing‘s decision was ―inherently destructive‖ of the rights of Boeing‘s represented workforce is so implausible— indeed, incredible—that it merits only brief treatment here. An employer‘s conduct is inherently destructive only if it ―carries with it an inference of unlawful intention so compelling that it is justifiable to disbelieve the employer‘s protestations of innocent purpose.‖ Am. Ship Bldg. Co., 380 U.S. at 311–12. The conduct must be ―so destructive of employee rights and so devoid of significant service to any legitimate business end that it cannot be tolerated consistently with the Act.‖ Brown, 380 U.S. at 286. The complaint alleges that Boeing‘s decision to ―transfer‖ work away from the Unit is inherently destructive. Compl. ¶¶ 7(a), (c), 8(a), (c). That allegation is foreclosed by Brown and American Ship Building. In those companion cases, the Supreme Court analyzed a wide range of employer actions—including the preemptive lockout at issue in American Ship Building and the lockout and hiring of temporary replacements in response to a whipsaw strike at issue in Brown—and held that they were not ―inherently destructive‖ of employees‘ Section 7 rights. See Am. Ship Bldg., 380 U.S. at 312; Brown, 380 U.S. at 283. In Brown, the Court adopted the Board‘s own language from its brief in American Ship Building, confirming ―that an employer may legitimately blunt the effectiveness of an anticipated strike‖ by ―stockpiling inventories, readjusting contract schedules, or transferring work from one plant to another, even if he thereby makes himself ‗virtually strikeproof.‘‖ 380 U.S. at 283 (emphasis added); see also Charles D. Bonanno Linen Serv., Inc. v. NLRB, 454 U.S. 404, 416 n.9 (1982) (an employer can ―try to blunt the effectiveness of an anticipated strike by,‖ among other things, ―transferring work from one plant to another‖).
Moreover, Boeing‘s undisputed and bargained-for right under Section 21.7 of the collective bargaining agreement to ―designate the work to be performed by the Company and the places where it is to be performed‖ alone defeats any claim that Boeing‘s actions were inherently destructive. Ex. A. Boeing‘s right to decide to expand 787 production, and to place a second final assembly line in another state, is expressly contemplated by the collective bargaining agreement. As a matter of both logic and common sense, it cannot be inherently destructive of collective bargaining rights for an employer to exercise its bargained-for right under a collective bargaining agreement. Far from being inimical to the collective bargaining relationship, by exercising its right to locate new work outside of the Unit, Boeing did only that which the parties have expressly contemplated as one of Boeing‘s available courses of action in that relationship. It simply cannot be the case that an employer‘s exercise of an express contractual right can be viewed as ―inherently destructive‖ under settled board precedent. b. There is no plausible allegation of anti-union animus.
Where an employer‘s conduct is not ―inherently destructive,‖ it has a ―comparatively slight,‖ if any, impact on employee rights. Great Dane, 388 U.S. at 34. In such a case, the Acting General Counsel bears the burden of showing actual anti-union animus, such as ―evidence indicating that the [action] was intended to discourage union membership or that was used in the service of designs inimical to the process of collective bargaining.‖ Local 702, Int’l Bhd. of Elec. Workers, AFL–CIO v. NLRB, 215 F.3d 11, 18 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). The complaint offers nothing of the sort. As discussed above, none of the statements cited by the complaint—which constitute the only pertinent allegations in the complaint—contains any express or implied statements of intent to discourage union membership or to oppose collective bargaining. See supra at 13–17
(discussing Exs. B–F). See Local 702, 215 F.3d at 18. To the contrary, the statements are 23
replete with praise for the IAM, shared management responsibility for past setbacks, and optimism about continuing to work productively with the IAM in Everett in the future. See, e.g., Exs. C at 2–3 (―discussions with the IAM were productive‖ and ―we look forward to working with the IAM in a positive way‖), F at 2–3 (IAM employees are ―magicians‖; Albaugh would prefer for future work to stay in Puget Sound region). Moreover, any allegation of anti-union animus is soundly defeated by the fact that Boeing engaged in good faith bargaining with the IAM over the second-line decision, notwithstanding Boeing‘s rights under Section 21.7 to decide unilaterally where to place the work. The Board and courts have recognized such positive signs of good faith as ample bases for rejecting accusations of animus.3 At most, the statements cited by the Acting General Counsel demonstrate that Boeing located its second 787 assembly line in Charleston in part to help it weather any future disruption of production on the first 787 line in Everett, including a future IAM strike. But Supreme Court and Board precedent confirm that this deployment of ―economic weapons‖ to blunt the effectiveness of future strikes not only fails to evince anti-union animus, but indeed ―is part and parcel of the system that the Wagner and Taft–Hartley Acts have recognized.‖ NLRB v. Ins. Agents’ Int’l Union, AFL–CIO, 361 U.S. 477, 489 (1960); see also Betts Cadillac Olds, Inc., 96 N.L.R.B. 268, 285 (1951) (―[An employer] has, and needs, the right to protect himself by reasonable measures from harmful economic or operative consequences of a strike.‖). As the D.C. Circuit said in International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Local 88 v. NLRB, the fact that
3 See, e.g., Local 702, 215 F.3d at 18 (citing employer‘s ―clearly expressed desire in [a] letter to resolve differences and resume business as usual as soon as possible‖); see id. (citing employer‘s ―lengthy, good faith attempts to reach a contract‖ as part of its ―historic and continuing good faith dealing with the Union‖); Democratic Union Organizing Comm. v. NLRB, 603 F.2d 862, 887 (D.C. Cir. 1978) (―[T]he fact that the companies informed the union that they were considering leasing and ‗invited discussion before their final decision‘ evinces a greater commitment on their part to the collective bargaining process than the union‖).
an employer‘s action may chill or diminish a union‘s relative bargaining power ―can have no bearing on the lawfulness of the employer‘s [action]‖ under Section 8(a)(3) because ―it is not the role of the NLRB, and certainly not that of the courts, to regulate the bargaining power of the parties to a labor dispute.‖ 858 F.2d 756, 765–66 (D.C. Cir. 1965) (emphasis added). In the absence of allegations that a Unit member suffered some adverse employment action due to Boeing‘s decision to establish a new assembly line in Charleston, or factual allegations that, if proven, would establish that the non-existent adverse action was motivated by anti-union animus, the Acting General Counsel‘s Section 8(a)(3) claim must be dismissed. C. Boeing and its South Carolina employees should not have to live under a cloud of possible shutdown; the requested remedy for Boeing to “operate” the second final assembly line in Everett should be stricken. Board orders must be remedial, not punitive; the Board can only seek a return to the status quo ante. See Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313 U.S. 177, 194 (1941). The standard remedy in a Section 8(a)(3) case, even in cases finding a ―runaway shop,‖ is to order laid-off employees reinstated, with back pay. See, e.g., Lear Siegler, Inc., 295 N.L.R.B. 857, 860 (1989). Thus, even assuming that Boeing ―transferred‖ work to Charleston, the appropriate remedy would be for Boeing to re-hire and restore the terms and conditions of employment to those employees adversely affected by the ―transfer.‖ Instead, the Acting General Counsel is seeking an order that Boeing ―operate‖ the second final assembly line in Everett. Compl. ¶ 13(a). Such a remedy is untethered to any restoration of the hire, pay, or terms and conditions of employment of any individual employee. Ordering Boeing to ―operate‖ the second line in Everett would also not be a return to the status quo—the second final assembly line never existed in Everett, no work has been lost in Everett, and no current employees have been harmed by Boeing‘s decision not to expand in Everett. And inasmuch as they already are employed, no current Unit members would benefit from the 25
construction and operation of another assembly line in Everett. Such an order might benefit the Unit by enlarging its membership, but it would have no impact whatsoever on the terms and conditions of the employment of current Unit members. Even if a violation were found, the remedy must be focused on those employees, not on Boeing‘s enterprise-level business decisions, such as what work will take place in Everett or in Charleston or how many 787s Boeing should make per month. The Board‘s remedial power is to restore the status quo of employees, not ―work.‖ Beyond its obliviousness to the status quo, the Acting General Counsel‘s requested injunction is unlawful because it is ―unduly burdensome.‖ Lear Siegler, Inc., 295 N.L.R.B. 857, 861 (1989); see Coronet Foods v. NLRB, 158 F.3d 782, 794 (4th Cir. 1993) (Coronet Foods II); Frito-Lay, Inc. v. NLRB, 585 F.2d 62, 68 (3d Cir. 1978); NLRB v. R & H Masonry Supply, Inc., 627 F.2d 1013, 1014 (9th Cir. 1980); NLRB v. Townhouse TV & Appliances, Inc., 531 F.2d 826, 830 (7th Cir. 1976). The injunction would impose immense economic burdens on Boeing: It would compromise a billion-dollar investment in South Carolina; it would require Boeing to invest many millions more to expand production capacity in Everett, and it would disrupt Boeing‘s global supply chain and almost certainly disrupt deliveries to customers. The totality of those costs would dwarf those imposed by orders stricken as unduly burdensome. See, e.g., Frito-Lay, 858 F.2d at 68 (several hundreds of thousands of dollars per year); Townhouse TV, 531 F.2d at 831–32 (roughly $160,000). In financial terms it is doubtless the most burdensome remedy ever requested in an NLRB proceeding, much less affirmed. And contrary to the complaint‘s suggestion, ―operat[ing]‖ the second final assembly line in Everett would require massive changes to the Charleston 787 line. See Compl. ¶ 13(b). That facility was designed and constructed to assemble 787s. Tens of millions of dollars of heavy
tooling and equipment specific to the assembly of the composite 787 have been installed in the Charleston facility. The new workforce has been hired and specifically trained to build 787s. The manifest implication of the Board‘s remedy would require that all of Boeing‘s currently planned 787 production—ten planes a month—be done in Everett, meaning that none could be built in Charleston. The net effect of an injunction requiring Boeing to move the second-line work to Everett would be to idle the Charleston facility, with obvious implications for the employees now working there. Uninformed suggestions that these implications could be avoided by Boeing increasing its 787 production—an enormously significant decision requiring long lead times and carrying broad implications for the Company and its global supply chain—or redesigning the Charleston factory (and reconfiguring its supply chain) at some point in the future to build a different airplane, merely reinforce the extraordinary and impermissible purpose of this action, which is to do nothing less than direct a company‘s major manufacturing decisions. Federal courts will not enforce injunctions like the one proposed here without considering the four traditional equitable factors of an injunction, including the harm the injunction would impose on third parties such as Boeing‘s 1,000 new employees in Charleston and the State of South Carolina. See eBay Inc. v. mercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388, 390 (2006). Indeed, the Board itself has recognized that its own remedies should take into account ―undue hardship on innocent third parties,‖ including those who have made investments based on employer decisions. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 147 N.L.R.B. 788, 790 (1964) (citing Renton News Record, 136 N.L.R.B. 1294 (1962)). Those factors weigh decisively against imposition of the Acting General Counsel‘s suggested remedy. Even aside from the 1,000 employees Boeing has already hired for the second final assembly line there, Boeing‘s expansion in Charleston has been a major economic
event for South Carolina, as evidenced by the significant economic incentives the State granted Boeing. Third parties in the region and in Boeing‘s supply chain have invested hundreds of millions of dollars based upon the expectation that Boeing‘s second final 787 assembly line would be in Charleston, along with all its associated economic effects. Those investments would be harmed or destroyed if Boeing were forced to ―operate‖ the second line in Everett. Under Board and federal court precedent, the hardship of the proposed order renders it wholly inappropriate. Accordingly, the Acting General Counsel‘s request that Boeing be ordered ―to have the Unit operate its second line of 787 Dreamliner aircraft assembly production in the State of Washington, utilizing supply lines maintained by the Unit in the Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, area facilities,‖ should be stricken from the complaint. CONCLUSION The complaint represents a radical departure from settled law in multiple respects and should be dismissed at this stage of the proceedings. Boeing‘s decision to provide additional capacity in Charleston for the 787 did not harm any current IAM employees. This is not a ―runaway shop‖ case because Boeing has not run away—it has expanded. Without any harm to current IAM employees, Boeing has not violated Sections 8(a)(1) or 8(a)(3). Equally important, Boeing‘s motivation to guard against the economic impacts of anticipated future strikes is a legitimate motive, and has been so under settled Board and Supreme Court precedent for over 45 years. At bottom, the Acting General Counsel is requesting that the Board grant the IAM a contractual advantage that it was unable to gain through permissive bargaining with the Company: a second line in Everett. But the Act simply does not provide the Board or the courts with authority to ―assess the relative economic power of the adversaries in the bargaining process 28
and to deny weapons to one party or the other because of [the Board‘s] assessment of that party‘s bargaining power.‖ Am. Ship Building, 380 U.S. at 317. To do so would amount to ―the Board‘s entrance into the substantive aspects of the bargaining process to an extent Congress has not countenanced.‖ Id. at 317–18. Respectfully Submitted, Dated: June 14, 2011 William J. Kilberg P.C. Eugene Scalia Matthew McGill Paul Blankenstein Daniel J. Davis GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington, District of Columbia 20036 Telephone: 202.955.8500 Facsimile: 202.467.0539 J. Michael Luttig Bryan H. Baumeister Brett C. Gerry Eric B. Wolff THE BOEING COMPANY 100 N. Riverside Plaza Chicago, Illinois 60606 Richard B. Hankins Alston D. Correll Drew E. Lunt MCKENNA LONG & ALDRIDGE 303 Peachtree Street, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia 30308 Telephone: 404.527.4000 Facsimile: 404.527.4198 Attorneys for The Boeing Company
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD REGION 19
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS DISTRICT LODGE 751, affiliated with INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that a copy of Respondent‘s Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim, or, in the Alternative, to Strike the Injunctive Relief Sought in ¶ 13(a) of the Complaint was electronically served on June 14, 2011 to the following parties and was hand-delivered to the tribunal: The Honorable Clifford H. Anderson Associate Chief Administrative Law Judge National Labor Relations Board Division of Judges 901 Market Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94103-1779 Richard L. Ahearn Regional Director National Labor Relations Board, Region 19 2948 Jackson Federal Building 915 Second Avenue Seattle, Washington 98174-1078 Richard.Ahearn@nlrb.gov
Mara-Louise Anzalone Peter G. Finch Rachel Harvey Counsel for the Acting General Counsel National Labor Relations Board 915 2nd Avenue, Suite 2948 Seattle, Washington 98174-1078 Mara-Louise.Anzalone@nlrb.gov Peter.Finch@nlrb.gov Rachel.Harvey@nlrb.gov David Campbell Carson Glickman-Flora Robert H. Lavitt Sean Leonard Jennifer Robbins Jude Bryan SCHWERIN CAMPBELL BARNARD IGLITZIN & LAVITT LLP 18 West Mercer Street, Suite 400 Seattle, Washington 98119 Campbell@workerlaw.com Flora@workerlaw.com lavitt@workerlaw.com leonard@workerlaw.com robbins@workerlaw.com bryan@workerlaw.com Christopher Corson, General Counsel IAM 9000 Machinists Pl. Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-2687 ccorson@iamlaw.org Dennis Murray, Cynthia Ramaker & Meredith Going, Sr. National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. c/o Glen M. Taubman 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 600 Springfield, VA 22151-2110 gmt@nrtw.org Matthew C. Muggeridge National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc. 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 600 Springfield, VA 22151-2110 mcm@nrtw.org
Jesse Cote, Business Agent Machinists District Lodge 751 9135 15th Pl. S Seattle, WA 98108-5100 James D. Blacklock Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059) Austin, TX 78711-2548 jimmy.blacklock@oag.state.tx.us
DATED this 14th Day of June, 2011 _____________________ Daniel J. Davis GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20036-5303 DDavis@Gibsondunn.com
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