A battle between Boeing and its unionized workforce has gone political in a big way. The aerospace company builds planes in union-friendly Washington state, where past strikes have disrupted production. It is planning to have its Dreamliner jet built at a new plant in South Carolina, but the National Labor Relations Board is balking, saying the move is merely to get around strikes, a federally-protected right. The NLRB is not seeking to block the South Carolina plant, but it does want a temporary Dreamliner factory in Washington made permanent. Supporters of the NLRB say it is protecting workers. Critics say the feds should butt out.
