House Passes S.C. Congressmen's Plan to Limit NLRB

A bill that would significantly limit the power of the National Labor Relations Board passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act passed in the House by a vote of 238-186 that was largely along party lines — seven Republicans voted against the bill and eight Democrats voted for it.

The legislation was sponsored Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina’s first district and co-sponsored by the rest of the Republican contingent from the state — Trey Gowdy, Joe Wilson, Mick Mulvaney and Jeff Duncan.

While not naming Boeing specifically, the bill is a result of the ongoing dispute between Boeing and the NLRB here in South Carolina.

Critics of the NLRB believe that the board acted inappropriately when it interfered with the decision by Boeing to move jobs from a Washington state plant to one in the Charleston area.

“Today’s vote is important for our entire nation, as well as for my home district in South Carolina, where the NLRB is currently pursuing an agenda which, if successful, would kill thousands of jobs,” Scott said in a statement.

“By removing the NLRB’s ability to dictate where private industry creates jobs, we are preventing an unelected, Presidentially-appointed government board frompitting state against state, inserting themselves into the business decisions of private companies, and scaring away investment in our nation.”

Rep. Gowdy reinforced his position: “This bill keeps the NLRB from imposing the ‘economic death penalty’ on businesses.  The NLRB has lost all pretense of objectivity and desperately needs to be reined in.”

Congressman Wilson stated: “This legislation creates a climate that promotes job growth and job creation. Organizations like the NLRB should not be allowed to dictate where private businesses can and cannot choose to create jobs in the United States. This bill protects the right of private businesses across the nation to promote job growth while acting in the best interest of their workers and shareholders.”

Scott added, “A former chairman of the NLRB recently testified that Canadian firms have already expressed concern about doing business in the United States because of the NLRB’s recent actions taken against Boeing, crystallizing the potential effects if the NLRB is able to proceed.”

While not eliminating the NLRB as had been reported elsewhere, HR 2587 would amend the national Labor Relations Act to prohibit the NLRB from ordering any employer to relocate, shut down, or transfer employment under any circumstance.

However, the NLRB would still have more than a dozen remedies at its disposal.