Center for American Progress

Boeing-Machinists Deal Benefits Company, Workers, and NLRB Credibility
Article

Boeing-Machinists Deal Benefits Company, Workers, and NLRB Credibility

Board Vindicated but Assaults May Continue

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The tentative deal reached last week between The Boeing Company and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM—and scheduled to be ratified today by rank-and-file workers—is a vindication for our nation’s labor law, which has been under significant attack.

The National Labor Relations Board—the government agency charged with protecting workers’ National Labor Relations Act rights to form unions and collectively bargain free from employer retaliation—made possible the deal that benefits both Boeing and its workers. The NLRB actively encouraged settlement in this case, and the framework of how the NLRB operates made possible a privately negotiated compromise between the two parties.

The critique of the NLRB—that it is an out-of-control agency killing jobs through overly aggressive enforcement of an unworkable law—is discredited in the face of this deal that preserves and creates tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.

Read the full article (CAP Action)

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Authors

David Madland

Senior Fellow; Senior Adviser, American Worker Project

Karla Walter

Senior Fellow, Inclusive Economy