Yesterday Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced stand alone legislation written expressly to address last month’s NLRB complaint against Boeing. The bill has 34 co-sponsors. According to the Senator’s press release, the Job Protection Act would: clarify that the NLRB would not be able to order an employer to relocate jobs from one location to another; guarantee an employer the right to decide where to do business within the United States; and protect an employer’s free speech regarding the costs associated with having a unionized workforce without fear of such communication being used as evidence in an anti-union discrimination claim. Alexander characterized the “breathtaking scope” of the Boeing complaint as nothing short of a direct assault on Right to Work states and “the single most important action” he has ever seen to drive jobs out of this country. The Senator called upon his colleagues from both parties to support the bill as the Boeing complaint threatens to deter manufacturers from locating in non-Right to Work states for fear of being limited in future expansion or relocation.
