Rep. Darrell Issa Issues Subpoena to NLRB in Boeing-Union Case

On a day when the financial markets dominate headlines, some interesting news slips through the cracks. Today's example involves Republican congressman Darrell Issa, the National Labor Relations Board, Boeing, and the state of South Carolina.

Issa (photo), whose San Diego district is over two thousand miles from Boeing's Chicago headquarters, has taken a strong interest in the aircraft manufacturer's efforts to staff a new facility in South Carolina. The Palmetto State is among 22 right-to-work states, which one can fairly identify as anti-union. Boeing has experienced struggles with unions over the years, and that history may have influenced the development of the North Charleston, South Carolina facility. The National Labor Relations Board has filed suit against Boeing in 2009, citing violation of federal labor laws.

This incident has become something of a GOP cause celebre. Issa, among the wealthiest members of the House of Representatives, believes in the power of congressional subpoenas and investigations. As with Democratic (and fellow Californian) congressman Henry Waxman, the congressional hearing becomes a mix of show trial, veiled or explicit threats, payback theatre, and stroking favored constituencies. In Issa's situation, he is acting on the proposition that federal bureaucrats should not obstruct corporate, propertied interests in their business pursuits. To that end, Issa has requested the NLRB to produce considerable documentation about the Boeing case, which has the potential to undermine the federal agency's legal strategy.

Two perspectives on this story are linked here. One is from the right-wing Washington Times; the other is an AP file run in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Issa's campaign is consistent with the Republican Party's goal of placing increasing power in the hands of the powerful, while weakening the federal government, the weak's last line of defense. The effort is consistent with the GOP philosophy that created the Wisconsin political uproar over public employees' collective bargaining rights. Wisconsin's state senate recall elections, which take place tomorrow, are a visceral public reaction to the provocative right-wing political agenda. Meanwhile, as far as the Republicans are concerned, there should be no labor rights at all. For Issa and his GOP colleagues across the country, those were the good old days, and they want them back.

Postscript on August 9th: A federal judge on Monday, August 8th, ruled that South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and state labor department head Catherine Templeton were within their rights to express "political animosity towards unions." The plaintiffs had asserted that government officials should be neutral in labor disputes, such as Boeing and the machinists union are currently experiencing in South Carolina.