BY BOB BRUNEAU
SEATTLE - More than 1,000 striking Boeing machinists, family members, and supporters marched to Boeing's corporate headquarters here October 11. Over 32,000 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) are striking Boeing plants throughout the country.
The IAM filed several unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Boeing October 9. The union accused Boeing of bargaining in bad faith by making last-minute demands for massive changes in employee health insurance without providing adequate time or information to examine the proposed changes. The union also charged that Boeing refused to provide details about company's plans for foreign and domestic subcontracting of work.
Workers are especially angry over reports that Boeing has mailed out "back to work" orders to laid-off IAM members, with the threat that they would lose their recall rights if they failed to cross the picketlines. There are nearly 11,000 laid-off Boeing workers.
Bob Bruneau, a striking Boeing machinist, is a member of IAM local 751A in Seattle.