The decision last month by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to side with a union trying to block Boeing Co. from operating in South Carolina has entered a new stage: the U.S. Senate. And the implications extend far beyond South Carolina. Last week, on May 12, Senators Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., introduced a bill, the Job Protection Act (S. 964), to bar the board from overriding an employer's decision to site a facility in a particular state. The measure, which has at least 34 co-sponsors, is a rebuke to NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon's complaint against Boeing on April 20 that the company had acted unfairly against the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in opening a facility near Charleston, S.C. to build its planned "787 Dreamliner" jet.
When Boeing Co. two years ago announced plans to open a plant in South Carolina to assemble many of its 787 Dreamliner commercial jets, the decision triggered an outcry by the International Association of Machinists. The IAM's unofficial partner, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), filed 
On August 23, Stephen Koski, former secretary-treasurer of International Association of Machinists Lodge 1027, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia to embezzling approximately $1,500 from the Clarksburg-based union. He had been charged in June. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
On June 7, Stephen Koski, former secretary-treasurer of Lodge 1027 of the International Association of Machinists, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia with embezzling approximately $1,500 in funds from the Clarksburg-based union. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
The National Labor Relations Board must have a broad definition of "coercion" when it comes to employers. With unions, the standard seems a lot narrower. On April 20, the board filed a 10-page complaint (
Tracy Ford may have had a drug problem. Just as likely, she had a theft problem. Ford, formerly secretary-treasurer of International Association of Machinists Local 1528, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on February 10 with embezzling nearly $175,000 from the Modesto union and submitting false financial reports to conceal her thefts. She had been indicted on two counts by a federal grand jury. If convicted, she faces a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
On November 3, Hugo Vargas, former secretary-treasurer of International Association of Machinists Lodge 845, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to 13 months in prison and three months supervised release for embezzling $106,293.59 from the Las Vegas union. He had been charged last December and pleaded guilty in August. The sentencing and guilty plea follow an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards.
