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An employee at The Boeing Co.’s newly-acquired North Charleston operation has filed a request with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a decertification election that could disband the local Machinists union. The petition was filed on Thursday, the same day Boeing completed its purchase of the plant from Vought Aircraft Industries for $580 million.
By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published July 31, 2009
An employee at The Boeing Co.’s newly-acquired North Charleston operation has filed a request with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a decertification election that could disband the local Machinists union.
The petition was filed on Thursday, the same day Boeing completed its purchase of the plant from Vought Aircraft Industries for $580 million.
“The premise is that at least 30% of the work force has indicated that they no longer want to be represented by the Machinists union,” said Howard Neidig, assistant to the regional director at the NLRB’s regional office located in Winston-Salem, N.C.
This move could have far-reaching implications as Boeing looks for a second assembly line for its 787 Dreamliner program. North Charleston is on a short-list of possible sites. The primary assembly line is in Everett, Wash., near Seattle.
Workers represented by the Machinists union in Washington walked off the job late last year for two months. Labor strife has cost the Chicago-headquartered company tens of millions and is among chief causes of delays in the testing and delivery schedule of the Dreamliner. The same union has represented workers in North Charleston for the last two years.
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Dennis Murray of Summerville, a quality inspector at the facility, said he filed the petition for the decertification vote because he felt as though the union was poorly representing employees.
“I don’t like being stabbed in the back and having bluff and bluster rule the day,” Murray said.
In October 2007, Vought workers, by a 67-60 margin, voted to join the Machinists union. Just more than a year later, the union voted to ratify a contract, settling a year of talks between the union and Dallas-based Vought. But several workers were outraged over how the vote was handled, saying union representatives failed to inform most members of an 11th-hour meeting that was called only days before Vought announced it would be idling its plant for several months.
Workers familiar with the vote say that only 13 people attended the meeting, with all but one voting in favor of the contract. Union spokesman Bob Wood would only say that the contract was ratified by 92% of voting members. The union refused to comment on how many people attended the meeting, but maintained that the timing was necessary because the company was set to lay off most of its work force the following business day. The contract ensured callback rights by seniority.
At the time, Paul Gaudrault, who attended the meeting, told the Charleston Regional Business Journal that it was unfair that a dozen employees “basically laid the foundation and had the fate of 300 in their hands.” He was the only union member present who voted against the contract.
Vought recognized the contract -- it was a deal the company had put on the table -- though Vought said in a release at the time that it was taken by surprise by the vote because additional bargaining sessions were scheduled and final proposals had not been exchanged.
It was the secretiveness of the contract vote that irritated most workers, Murray said. Murray said some employees at the time inquired to the National Labor Relations Board about whether they had rights to overturn the contract agreement. The NLRB told them their only recourse was to vote for decertification 60 to 90 days before the three-year contract was set to expire.
That would have been in 2011, but the game changed when Boeing acquired
the Vought facility as part of an effort to streamline its supply chain as it relates to the 787 program. The local plant, along with neighboring Global Aeronautica, performs work on sections of the jet's fuselage. It would be illegal for Boeing officials to request a decertification vote, and Murray said he was not approached by the company.
Scott Fancher, Boeing’s 787 program manager, told the Charleston Regional
Business Journal earlier this month that the company would recognize the
union, but would have to renegotiate the contract.
“From a transaction standpoint, what we are required to do is either recognize the union contract or not,” Fancher said. “We’ll be recognizing it, but we also have to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with them because their agreement is with the Vought company.”
That reopening of the contract allowed for employees to file the petition for decertification, Murray said.
Neidig said the NLRB would also have to rule on whether this is the appropriate time for such an election. He said he was too unfamiliar with the details to comment. Additionally, Neidig said the NLRB does not comment on what percentage of the work force requests the vote. The board will only certify that he 30% threshold has been reached.
Still, Murray, who collected the signatures, said that “well over 30%, probably closer to twice that” signed the petition that he circulated during non-working hours.
“I didn’t even try hard,” he said.
Murray said the main reason employees are seeking the decertification is because they do not agree with the way the union has operated here. But he hopes a side benefit is that North Charleston may look more appealing to Boeing when its ocation for the second assembly line is selected.
“Do I think that would possibly open the door for the second assembly? I would certainly hope so, because we have a lot to offer here,” Murray said.
Fancher said it would be oversimplifying to say that labor issues will drive the company’s decision, but he hinted that it could be a major factor.
“I think any company with a large production system wants to diversify its risk and its exposure to opportunities for disruption and that often leads companies to looking at different geographic areas to do work,” he said earlier this month.
Reach Molly Parker at 843-901-0441.
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