By Jon Ostrower
Boeing fended off the first real organizing challenge at its
nonunion manufacturing stronghold, as its largest union canceled a
vote aimed at unionizing some 3,175 employees of the aerospace
giant in South Carolina.
The IAM, Boeing's largest union, on Friday claimed Boeing used
underhanded tactics to suppress support for the vote, which was
scheduled for next Wednesday, prompting organizers to call it off.
Boeing dismissed those claims. The union vowed to press ahead with
another attempt.
The organizing effort was the latest round in a decadeslong
fight between Boeing and its unions. It threatened to undo Boeing's
efforts to develop the South Carolina operation as an alternative
to its unionized facilities in Washington state that also assemble
commercial jets.
Boeing in January appointed Beverly Wyse, a veteran executive
who has had a solid relationship with Boeing's organized workforce,
to run the South Carolina operation. But its battle against the
union effort also included such tactics as public informational
videos featuring a beady-eyed mustachioed cartoon man wearing a
tie, a snarling smile and a "union boss" button reaching into a
woman's purse to collect union dues.
The union said its organizers encountered a "toxic environment"
in South Carolina. Two organizers were threatened at gunpoint
during home visits to gauge support and urge votes for
unionization, and others reported "near-violent confrontations," it
said.
"An atmosphere of threats, harassment and unprecedented
political interference has intimidated workers to the point we
don't believe a free and fair election is possible," lead IAM
organizer Mike Evans said in a statement.
A Boeing spokesman called the allegations frivolous and said
"our team is continuing to focus on building the highest quality
airplanes in the world." Responding to union claims that Boeing
spread misinformation, the spokesman said, "During this entire
process, Boeing provided our employees with only the facts."
Ms. Wyse, in a statement, thanked South Carolina employees for
"their patience and professionalism," and said they have "the
opportunity to make Boeing South Carolina and our local community
an even better place to work and live. And that's what we're going
to do--together."
State and local officials have been vocal in their opposition to
the organizing effort, including South Carolina Governor Nikki
Haley. A spokesman for Gov. Haley didn't immediately respond to a
request for comment.
The union, which filed its petition for the vote with the
National Labor Relations Board in March, began signaling earlier
this month that local support had softened and that it might cancel
the vote. The withdrawal is the second major blow to the IAM this
month, which had to curtail an effort to organize Delta Air Lines
Inc. flight attendants after it was found to have submitted
questionable documentation.
The union can immediately begin to again collect signatures for
a new petition but has to wait at least six months before filing
with the labor board. Such campaigns can take two or three attempts
before a collective bargaining unit is formed, but the South
Carolina effort likely faces long odds in a state where
unionization rates are among the lowest in the country.
Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney spearheaded the launch of
the South Carolina operation, which assembles Boeing's flagship 787
Dreamliner jets, in part to counterbalance the company's turbulent
relations with workers in the Pacific Northwest. When Boeing
announced plans to start manufacturing jetliners in South Carolina
in October 2009, the IAM claimed it was retaliation for a 2008 work
stoppage.
The North Charleston, S.C., plant delivered just 34 of the 723
jetliners Boeing delivered last year. But the site is slated to be
producing seven 787s a month by later in this decade--half of that
jet's planned total output--from three a month today.
Reflecting broader challenges on the 787 program, South Carolina
required significant overtime to catch up. Ray Conner, who heads
Boeing's Commercial Airplanes unit, said in a February interview
"this was a brand new airplane, brand new production system, brand
new facility, brand new people, all those kinds of things maybe all
compounded" staff grievances, fueling the organizing effort.
"We got behind schedule," he said. "We needed to work some
overtime and the quality of life is very important and we're very
aware of that now, we just had to get caught up."
But Mr. Conner said he expected union challenges either way. "I
think if things were going really well, I don't think that would
keep people from wanting to organize South Carolina," said Mr.
Conner. "I think that's going to be a fact of life as we go
forward."
Write to Jon Ostrower at jon.ostrower@wsj.com
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