Vol. 77/No. 44 December 9, 2013
The vote by 31,000 members of Machinists Local 751 took place Nov. 13 amid company threats that a “no” vote would result in moving production of its new wide-body 777X aircraft out of state.
Boeing’s proposed contract included a no-strike pledge through 2024, pension freezes for current workers, the replacement of pensions for new hires with a company retirement savings account and higher employee medical costs. It also extends the period for workers to reach top pay scale to 16 years from six years, according to Bloomberg News. Prior to the vote, the Washington state legislature passed a bill giving Boeing $8.7 billion in tax breaks through 2040, one of the company’s stated conditions for maintaining production in Washington. Boeing is in competition with rival Airbus, which produces an A350 wide-body aircraft.
“The whole purpose of this contract is to destroy the union. Everything else is smoke and mirrors,” Boeing worker Eugene Riggs told the Militant at a union rally outside Boeing’s plant in Renton the day before the vote.
“They are driving a wedge between us and the new hires coming in behind us” said John Lopez III, a second-generation Boeing worker.
Some 250 people turned out Nov. 18 for a support rally for the Machinists called by the Washington State Labor Council.
“I’m here to support the union members at Boeing,” said Charlie Wilson, an iron worker, who came to the rally with other members of his union local. “What we have in the unions is always on the verge of disappearing.”
“In the last 40 years we have seen an erosion of the unions,” said Todd Pierce, a member of the Painters and Allied Trades Union. “Unemployment is another issue the corporations use against us. Boeing’s demands are a threat to all of us. It’s time to wake up.”
“I’m starting to see what is happening to the workers,” said Patrick Mick, 33, a member of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19 here. He has worked on the docks for 11 years. “The unions before me fought for us. I want to educate myself and then help educate others about this situation.”
Hazel Powers, 55, a tooling inspector in Auburn, said she voted “no” to defend the pension and to save new hires from a reduced wage structure. “I’m not going to sell out,” she told the Seattle Times. When asked, what if Boeing places the 777X somewhere else? Powers responded, “Boeing is going to do what they are going to do.”
— Mary Martin
DC cab drivers seek union, fight upgrade costs, fees
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of cab drivers lined up in the plaza in front of One Judiciary Square here Nov. 13 holding signs demanding respect and displaying the Teamsters union logo. Eventually, after long delays, some 280 of them were allowed to attend the meeting of the District of Columbia Taxi Commission.Cab Commissioner Ron Linton abruptly adjourned the meeting during the public comment period. Commissioners demanded that anyone speaking at the meeting have written comments because of “the language barrier,” according to one commissioner. Many of the drivers hail from East Africa, but all speak English.
In October more than 1,000 drivers voted to form the DC Taxi Operators Association, affiliated with the Teamsters union. They are fighting for representation on the taxi commission to push back a slew of upgrades and fees imposed on them by the commission this past year that drivers say are lining the pockets of select government contractors who are profiteering at their expense and giving city cab inspectors and police a new club to use against them.
“They want to turn us into modern sharecroppers,” said Chama, a driver who asked that only his last name be used. “They still need us as the laborer. What they want to deprive us of is the ownership. They use legislative council, executive council, and the mayor to come up with very harsh and strict mechanisms, use media to tarnish our name, they write so many outrageous regulations, stiff penalties, very excessive enforcement — all these are the tools they use.”
In New York City, cab drivers who want to own their own cab have to purchase a medallion from the city. In April of this year the cost of a medallion rose to over $1 million. Here there is no such medallion system. As a result, it is much less expensive to own your own cab, and most who drive a cab for a few years choose to do that rather than work for a company. Drivers point out that the new regulations are aimed at the individual owner-operator. Large Internet-based car services that are taking a bigger and bigger share of the D.C. market are exempt.
— Paul Pederson
SAfrica platinum miners strike over wages, conditions
More than 6,200 workers at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde mine in South Africa’s Limpopo province went on strike Nov. 3 for higher wages and better working conditions. Workers at Zondereinde, the world’s deepest platinum mine, make less than $500 a month. The union had originally asked for a $200 a month wage increase and an increase of the monthly housing allowance to about $350, National Union of Mineworkers chief negotiator Ecliff Tantsi said by phone Nov. 22. The company’s offer of an 9 percent wage increase “is not going to make a dent in the low wages” miners receive, he said.When a strike wave swept South Africa’s platinum belt last year, Northam Platinum workers did not join it. “Those workers in the unprotected strike, they got some improvements,” Tantsi said. “The Northam workers thought since we remained loyal to the company, we produced and respected the law, the company would be genuine with us this time. Now workers are saying the company cannot treat us this way.”
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union became the main union of platinum miners in the course of last year’s strike wave. Both AMCU and the NUM are currently in negotiations with the three largest platinum companies — Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin.
— Seth Galinsky