A group of flight line mechanics at Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina, Dreamliner plant have voted to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, giving the IAM at least a tenuous foothold at the factory following two previous attempts to unionize. The 176 workers, known as flight readiness technicians, won the right to representation following a May 21 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that rejected an argument by Boeing calling the group an artificially gerrymandered subset of employees. The vote also came just months after the NLRB reversed a decision by the Obama administration that allowed so-called micro-bargaining units, provoking an argument by Boeing that the Charleston effort ran afoul of federal law. However, the IAM argued that the group worked under various employment conditions including wage scales, hours, and supervision that differed materially from those of the other employee groups.
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