Vol. 72/No. 37      September 22, 2008

On September 3, 28,000 IAM members at Boeing plants in Washington, Oregon, and Kansas voted by 80 percent to reject the company’s “last and final” contract proposal. Eighty-seven percent voted to strike. Cheers went up on the second shift shop floor at the Everett, Washington, plant when the strike vote was announced at about 9:30 p.m.

However, immediately after the resounding vote, union officials announced they had agreed to a request by Washington State governor Christine Gregoire, a federal mediator, and Boeing to extend the contract and postpone strike action for 48 hours. After no new agreement was reached, the workers walked out.

Preceding the vote unionists had been holding daily lunchtime marches and rallies to discuss the details of the company’s proposals. With a backlog of orders for planes and the millions of dollars executives are taking in compensation and pensions, workers are not in the mood to accept concessions. Rather, they are seeking to make up for losses in previous contracts, and to counter the impact of the rising cost of living.

Speakers at the rallies emphasized that the next contract “should not leave anyone behind,” referring to the two-tier wage structure that since 1992 has frozen wages for new hires. They also called for protecting retiree benefits and for an end to further outsourcing of bargaining unit jobs.

The starting pay for grade 4 mechanics, which is what most workers begin as, has been $12.72 per hour for the past 16 years. For factory service attendants, starting pay has been $8.72.

Although the company increased its offer on wages and pensions in its second proposal and backed off from some of its main concessions demands, workers on the picket lines point out that takeaways remain throughout the proposal, especially in medical coverage and subcontracting.

“If they made $13 billion they can share the wealth. We just want a fair deal,” said Mike Ice, a crane operator on picket duty at the Everett plant.

“Job security is the main issue for me,” said Julie, an interior parts expediter who did not want her last name used. Current contract language could eliminate her job, she said.

The proposal that was rejected contained an 11 percent general wage increase over three years, an increase in the pension formula from $70 to $80 per year of service, and a signing bonus of $5,000-$6,000. It raised starting pay for new hires by $2.28 per hour.

However, this is far short of the $4.50 raise for new hires that the union is demanding. The union proposal would apply to everyone currently in the six-year wage progression, whereas the company proposal only includes new hires and those who would be left below the new rate. The company has rejected the union proposal to shorten the six-year wage progression.

Dean Peoples is an assembly mechanic at the Everett, Washington, plant and a member of IAM District 751.  
 
 
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