Nation's Labor Law Worked to Protect Workers Rights and Jobs in Boeing Case

Press Release

U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), issued the following statement after the National Labor Relations Board announced that they have ended their case against Boeing after workers ratified a new four-year agreement with the company.

"Seventy six years ago, Congress gave our nation's workers the right to organize together and bargain for a better life. The agreement reached between Boeing and workers in Washington demonstrates that the law that protects workers' rights is vital to our economy and necessary to enforce. Fostering a more productive relationship between workers and Boeing has resulted in an agreement that will facilitate employment stability and opportunities for job growth for workers across the country for years to come.

"That's why the National Labor Relations Board is so important. And that's why partisan efforts to roll back these worker rights and the tools to enforce them are troubling; if those efforts prevail, there would likely be no mutually beneficial outcome for workers and employers alike. I congratulate the Machinists union and Boeing for working on a solution to the benefit of all parties involved."

Last week, House Republicans pushed through special-interest legislation designed to dramatically weaken workers' right to a free and fair union representation election. It was just the latest attack by Republicans and special interest groups against workers' rights and the agency that enforces those rights since the beginning of the year. Republicans have tried to defund the agency, passed legislation to take away any effective sanctions the NLRB can use to enforce laws protecting workers from retaliation, and interfered with ongoing enforcement actions. Only the NLRB can enforce workers' and employers' rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

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