Attorney General Sam Olens announced today that Georgia has joined a bi-partisan, 16-state[1]coalition in filing an amicus brief opposing the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) recent action attempting to block a business' expansion which would create new, non-unionized jobs in South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

The brief, filed by attorneys general from right-to-work and unionized states, is in response to the proposed retaliatory enforcement action against Boeing’s business decision to build a new final production line facility in South Carolina. The NLRB asserts that it took this unprecedented action to protect the unionized workforce in Washington State, where a similar facility is located. Contrary to the NLRB's claim that union workers would be harmed, Boeing has actually added 2,000 union jobs in Washington State since Boeing made plans to expand into South Carolina.

In the brief Georgia and sister states argue that the NLRB complaint will harm the ability of every state to attract business and promote new job growth. Businesses will be reluctant to construct new facilities in right-to-work states for fear of retaliation by the NLRB. Likewise, new businesses will be discouraged from locating in unionized states knowing that they will be handcuffed should they wish to expand into a right-to-work state in the future. The more serious danger is that businesses will forgo establishing operations in the United States altogether and relocate overseas where the NLRB lacks enforcement jurisdiction.

“The amicus brief filed today by a bi-partisan coalition of 16 right-to-work and unionized states is about protecting jobs,” said Sam Olens. “During this difficult economic climate when countless Americans are still unemployed, the NLRB has decided to insert itself in a purely business decision to the detriment of workers. Although the NLRB action was not taken in Georgia, it is a real threat to our ability to recruit business and create jobs in the future.”

A copy of the brief is attached.

[1] Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming

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