NLRB complaint points to 787 surge line’s coming permanency

Reading between the lines of the National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing, it becomes clear that the foundations for the settlement between Boeing and the IAM may be self-evident in the form of the eventual permanency of the coming 787 surge line.

The NLRB alleges Boeing violated the National Labor Relations Act by placing the second 787 final assembly line in North Charleston, South Carolina as a retaliatory action for the fall 2008 strike that shutdown jetliner production for 57-days.

Boeing refutes the claim, however the NLRB cites comments to the Seattle Times by Boeing Commercial Airplane CEO Jim Albaugh regarding labor as the overriding factor in the decision. Additionally, Boeing airplane programs vice president Pat Shanahan (also cited in the NLRB complaint) told this page in June 2009 – ahead of the decision – that labor relations, not economic geography, was guiding the decision.

Shanahan declined to specify what locations were on the “short list” for a second 787 production line, but said there are “lots of geographical options…the real options are around ‘how do you secure assurance of delivery?’ And I think that’s been a discussion topic around some of the disruption we’ve realized…at Boeing.”

The disruption Shanahan referenced was the 57-day machinist strike that halted jetliner production at Boeing’s commercial manufacturing facilities during September and October of 2008.

A vote to decertify the IAM from then-Boeing Charleston followed in September 2009 and was one the precursor to the final selection in October 2009, along with the collapse of talks between Boeing and the IAM. An IAM spokesman at the time alleged Boeing told employees that if they decertified the union Charleston would be selected for the second line, a claim Boeing denies. Whether it was organized by official elements or not, there was a whisper campaign that was well understood to be driving a lot of the arguments around the vote. 

The eight-position Charleston horseshoe line (twice the size of the primary Everett line) is less than four months away from hosting the arrival of Airplane 46 for United Airlines, a milestone that is very likely to not be disrupted by the complaint as Boeing has vowed to “vigorously contest” any order.

The NLRB acting general counsel says an amicable settlement avoiding costly litigation is ideal, with its own recommendation comes near the end of its announcement:

To remedy the alleged unfair labor practices, the Acting General Counsel seeks an order that would require Boeing to maintain the second production line in Washington state. The complaint does not seek closure of the South Carolina facility, nor does it prohibit Boeing from assembling planes there.

The truth is, Boeing is already building a second 787 final assembly line and it will be operational in early 2012 and will provide temporary surge capacity to support the ramp up along side the primary Everett Building 40-26 line and the Charleston 88-30 line. This page reported in December that Boeing was investigating rates 70% higher than its 2013 goals that will rely heavily on the surge line:

That acceleration, say factory sources, may extend well beyond today’s 2013 goal to build 10 787s per month, with rises as high as 17 per month being investigated for mid-2016. That significant boost, beyond today’s unprecedented target, which calls for the planned Everett surge line, which aims for operation by early 2012, to be made permanent.