BY BOB BRUNEAU AND LISA AHLBERG
SEATTLE - Cheers of "Strike! Strike! Strike!" erupted as the tellers marched out of the ballot counting room and into the press conference. International Association of Machinists District 751 president Bill Johnson announced, "We still have a labor dispute going on."
The November 21 press conference was interrupted repeatedly by chants of "As long as it takes," "Where's our share?" and "No more lies."
Johnson announced the voting tally. The company's contract proposal was rejected by 61 percent of the membership. Some 23,000 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) voted in Wichita, Kansas; Portland, Oregon; and throughout the Puget Sound in Washington state. A total of 32,000 riveters, painters, crane operators, and other production workers are on strike.
"By rejecting this contract offer you sent a message to the Boeing company," Johnson said. "Now it's time to go back out on the line, to stay united, and we will get a good contract. The fight has just begun."
Many strikers were glad the proposed contract had been turned down. "There should have been a `No' and a `Hell no' box," Jim Rice told reporters.
However, Pete, a worker at Boeing for 16 years, said, "I voted for the contract. It was enough for me. But I have to stay with the membership. I'm staying out."
On the picket line the morning after the vote, John and Mary Corbett, both striking Machinists, were out making up their missed picket assignment. John said, "When we were being sent out this morning the picket captain asked us what it was we wanted from the negotiations team. I told him we've been telling you for seven weeks now: no givebacks."
When asked what he thought about the vote against the contract, John replied, "I'm so proud of the members. Now it's our strike, not Boeing's game anymore."
The picketers reported more passersby were beeping their horns and waving at them this morning. A Seattle rail worker reported that while working the previous night his co- workers were discussing the Machinists' rejection of Boeing's contract offer. "I'm so proud of the Boeing workers," one commented. "We should be doing just what they're doing."
A central issue in the strike has been Boeing's demand that workers pay substantially more for health care. The contract proposed establishing monthly co-payments for the first time and called for higher deductible payments.
Workers remaining in the Boeing Medical Plan would be forced to pay from $10 to $30 per month, depending on their family status. Deductibles would range from $125 to $375.
"Medical is a big thing for me," Vickie Drysdale, a shop steward at the Auburn plant, told the Militant the day before the vote at the IAM hall. "This year it's this much.... next year it's more," she explained, referring to the medical insurance co-payments.
"It's a mistake to give in on this," echoed Steve Howarth several blocks away on the picket line. "It's just opening the door. They just want to stick it to the working man and make him pay for it. They want to pass on the increased costs to the little guy."
For many workers another key issue is the threat of layoffs. The latest proposal contained vague language intended to appease that concern. Boeing agreed to give the union 90-day advance notice of its intent to subcontract work that would eliminate 50 or more jobs in the Puget Sound area and 30 or more in Spokane, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The union would then have the opportunity to propose alternatives, which the company could consider at its discretion.
The company also offered to provide laid-off workers a severance package equaling one week of pay for every year of service up to 26 years.
Also at issue was pensions. Workers retiring under the terms of the latest offer would receive $40 a month per year of service, up from $35 in the old contract and up from $37 in Boeing's October offer.
The proposed contract included an agreement not to increase costs of medical benefits for retirees. Boeing's recent announcement that it would unilaterally raise health- care costs for the 10,000 retirees particularly angered many strikers. In 1995 some 3,000 Machinists accepted an early retirement package. The company promised that their benefits would not change and that they would receive a lump sum payment based on their hours worked in 1995 prior to retirement. The second contract proposal reneged on the lump sum payment. This attack was denounced at a November 20 action organized by retiree groups that drew 100 workers.
On the question of wages, which has never been a central issue in the strike, the proposed package registered no real progress. Lump sum payments of 5 percent in the first year and 3 percent the second substituted for any general wage increase. A 3 percent general wage increase was included in the contract's final year.
The IAM negotiation team had unanimously recommended the contract proposal. In a flyer distributed to workers to explain the proposal, the negotiators explained, "Are we thrilled about this? No, but...in the best judgment of your Committee, this was the most we could get out of Boeing at this time - short of continuing the strike."
Several workers pointed to the similarity of the new offer to the initial proposal. Bob Kemmer, a Boeing worker for 23 years, said, "It's just switching numbers around. It's not acceptable."
Unionists stressed the fact that Boeing is highly profitable and doing well. On November 14 the aircraft giant announced that Singapore Airlines will buy 34 of Boeing's new 777 model planes, with options for 43 more. The mammoth deal is valued at $12.7 billion.
Several said that by continuing the strike they could wrest more of what they deserve. "Boeing's not a struggling company," Cecil Johnson said. "They could spread the wealth around a little bit."
"Not good enough" is how John Malgarini, a seven-year Boeing worker at the Renton plant explained his "no" vote. "I didn't strike for seven weeks for nothing. Boeing can do better than this. They should do better than this."
Adding insult to injury was an announcement that five Boeing executives, including chairman and chief executive Frank Shrontz, were eligible for $2.5 million bonuses because of rising stock prices.
In response, strikers greeted the announcement of the contract rejection with boisterous chants of "It's our turn now!"
Lisa Ahlberg is a member of IAM Local 289. Bob Bruneau, a member of IAM Local 751-A at Boeing's Renton plant, is on strike.