Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina requested documents from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Monday, in connection with the ongoing lawsuit over Boeing moving a production plant to Charleston, S.C.
The request, made through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seeks documents pertaining to the NLRB’s decision to go after Boeing’s decision to relocate to a right-to-work state. Specifically, it includes communications between NLRB and union officials at the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and officials in Congress and the Obama Administration.
The FOIA letter was sent to Lafe Solomon, Acting General Counsel at the NLRB, and Jacqueline Young, General Counsel and FOIA Officer at the NLRB.
“The public facts surrounding the complaint raise serious questions about the interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act upon which it is based, to say nothing of the troubling appearance of partisan, special interest politics at its heart,” read the letter.
“What is less clear, unfortunately, is the process by which the NLRB came to the decision to launch this attack against Boeing, South Carolina, and the over one thousand people who have been hired to operate the North Charleston 787 plant,” the letter continued.
The FOIA request targets communications between officials and documents regarding the impact on employment in South Carolina and Boeing operations and activities since January 2009.
DeMint’s letter also questions whether the local IAM chapter that the NLRB filed the suit on behalf of, engaged in a “pay-to-play system of political influence.”
“The question is unavoidable,” wrote DeMint. “[D]id Local 751’s political activities or campaign contributions “gain [it] access to officials” at the NLRB? “