The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would stop the National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) from blocking Boeing's operation of its second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line in South Carolina.
Called the Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act, the bill passed in the house today 238 to 186 in a vote largely split along party lines. Of the 238 who voted for the bill, only eight were Democrats.
The bill, which now must be passed by the Democrat-dominated Senate, prohibits the NLRB from "ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer employment under any circumstance".
The NLRB had filed a complaint earlier this year against Boeing's opening of a second 787 line in North Charleston, South Carolina, alleging that the airframer had chosen to not open the line in Washington state in retaliation for past strikes.
Boeing, which has denied the accusations, opened the line in June. Production at the Charleston line will ramp up to three 787s a month eventually. Combined with the airframer's lines in Everett, Washington, Boeing aims to reach 10 aircraft a month by end-2013.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
