Elected officials and representatives from community and business groups, suppliers and subcontractors joined more than 1,000 Boeing employees at the company’s North Charleston, S.C., facility today for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new 787 Dreamliner final assembly building.
The event took place under a cloud of controversy, as Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) await a hearing scheduled for next Tuesday in Seattle marking the start of deliberations in a lawsuit filed by the NLRB against the Chicago-based company for alleged coercive actions against its machinists’ union. The hearing, scheduled to take place in Seattle in front of an administrative law judge, launches a process to address claims that Boeing located the factory in South Carolina in retaliation for past strikes by its Puget Sound workforce and chill future strike activity.
