Key Points:
- The NLRB is abandoning its case against SpaceX over fired engineers.
- The board cited a lack of legal jurisdiction over the company.
- A separate agency for airlines will likely oversee SpaceX instead.
- The decision follows a court ruling that challenged the NLRB’s authority.
The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is officially walking away from its long legal fight with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. According to a report from Bloomberg News on Monday, the agency is dismissing its case and signaling that it will not pursue similar actions against the aerospace giant in the future.
The conflict began two years ago when the labor board accused SpaceX of illegally firing eight engineers. These employees had written and circulated an open letter that criticized Elon Musk’s behavior. The board argued that firing them violated their rights as workers. However, in a letter sent to the engineers’ lawyers this week, the board stated it is dropping the charges entirely.
The reason for this sudden reversal comes down to bureaucracy and jurisdiction. The labor board pointed to a recent opinion from a different government body, the National Mediation Board (NMB). This separate agency usually oversees railroads and airlines. The labor board concluded that SpaceX engineers actually fall under the NMB’s rules, not their own.
Danielle Pierce, a regional director for the labor board, explained the decision in the letter. She wrote that because her agency “lacks jurisdiction over the Employer,” she had to dismiss the charge. This effectively ends the federal investigation into whether the firings were legal under standard labor laws.
This move follows a significant legal victory for Musk. In August of last year, a U.S. appeals court agreed with SpaceX that the structure of the NLRB might be unconstitutional. The court blocked the agency from pursuing cases against the company, which severely weakened the board’s power.
The shift in oversight matters because the rules are different. The NLRB covers most private-sector employees and protects their right to band together to improve working conditions, even without a union. The NMB, which governs airline workers, operates under a different law that does not offer those same specific protections for collective action.
Neither SpaceX nor the National Mediation Board responded immediately to requests for comment. The decision marks a major win for Musk and a significant shift in how the U.S. government regulates the growing commercial space industry.
