[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 116 (Friday, July 29, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     OPPOSITION TO H.R. 2587, PROTECTING JOBS FROM THE GOVERNMENT 
                            INTERFERENCE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 29, 2011

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, despite the bill's colorful title, the 
Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587) is a 
blatant attempt to declaw the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and 
weaken the rights of American workers. Created in 1935 by the enactment 
of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the NLRB oversees the 
process by which employees form unions and enforces fair labor 
provisions against violations committed by private sector employers and 
unions. H.R. 2587 would strip the NLRB's ability to punish businesses 
for unlawfully relocating or dissolving jobs in retaliation for union 
organization, and thus eliminate the NLRB's only meaningful enforcement 
tool to protect working Americans under the National Labor Relations 
Act.
  H.R. 2587 was authored by Representative Tim Scott of South Carolina 
to prevent the NLRB's ongoing case against the Boeing Company for 
allegedly violating federal labor laws by opening a non-union passenger 
plane production facility in South Carolina, rather than in the state 
of Washington, from moving forward. According to the NLRB, it has 
evidence that Boeing intentionally moved its facilities to a non-union 
state in retaliation against unionized workers in Washington. By law, 
employers may move their facilities to non-union states, but it is 
illegal for employers to retaliate against employees for exercising 
their federally-protected right to strike. Whether or not Boeing's 
actions were illegal is a matter to be decided, but not by politicians.
  While millions of Americans are struggling to find employment, the 
Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act would neither create 
nor protect jobs as the title claims. On the contrary, H.R. 2587 would 
weaken American workers' rights and reduce the number of U.S. jobs by 
legalizing company reprisals against unions through the dissolution or 
transfer of jobs to non-union sites elsewhere in the United States and, 
even more worrisome, somewhere overseas.
  As a stalwart advocate for American workers, I cannot support efforts 
that would take away an important tool in helping to ensure that 
employers do not violate the law by retaliating against unionized 
employees. Our nation is stronger when workers join together and 
bargain for a better life, and when employers respect those rights. To 
that end, I have long supported efforts in Congress to protect and 
strengthen the right of American workers in every industry to 
collective bargaining. While I imagine the dispute between the NLRB and 
the Boeing Company will be worked out, in the meantime, Congress should 
not interfere with important legal protections for union workers that 
are already in place. For these reasons, I am strongly opposed to H.R. 
2587.

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