GOP Senators Fight Obama for Right-to-Work Laws

Republican senators contend that President Barack Obama is attempting to kill right-to-work laws in 22 states that make it unnecessary for workers to join unions, reports DailyCaller.com.

The issue came to light after the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against plane maker Boeing when it decided to manufacture its new 787 Dreamliner at a plant in North Charleston, S.C., rather than at a facility in Washington state. The agency said the company did so to avoid unions.

The focus of labor debate has swung “to the right-to-work law and whether the administration can stop companies from locating in right-to-work states, which is obviously the goal of complaints like this,”
said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Alexander is cosponsor, with South Carolina Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, of a bill that would protect companies’ right-to-work moves.

Alexander defended Boeing’s move: “In general counsel’s testimony, they testified there were many other decisions and factors that went into this decision. One is the cost of doing business generally in South Carolina.”

Requiring union participation also could hinder a company’s expansion into other states, he said.

“The single biggest problem facing our country is persisting high unemployment and creating jobs, and this policy is the single biggest step the federal government can make to make it harder to create jobs in Tennessee,” Alexander told the Caller. “These policies are completely out of line with the president’s need to create an environment where we can make it easier and cheaper to create good jobs in the United States.”