RENTON, Wash. — A major showdown has erupted between some 33,000 workers, organized by International Association of Machinists District Lodge 751, and Boeing, one of two major producers of commercial airplanes worldwide. The Machinists shut down production Sept. 13 after rejecting a proposed four-year tentative agreement by 94.6%, then voting 96% to strike. They’re fighting for their first new contract there in 16 years.
Spirited picket lines were organized across the sprawling aerospace factories and related facilities at several locations in Washington state; Gresham, Oregon; Victorville, California; and at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California.
Roger Bland, who’s worked nearly 14 years at Boeing, told the Militant how veteran unionists and newer workers joined together to prepare for the strike and drum up support. In the weeks leading up to the vote, hundreds of workers organized marches inside the plants.
“More and more began to join. It grew over time to two or three times the size. People brought horns from home and noisemakers,” he said. “Last Wednesday before the vote almost all the workers joined and went outside, and many of those who didn’t march cheered them on.
“The amount of frustration is very high. A lot of people are tired of paying for the crises created by management,” Bland said.
He described the determination and “good energy” of younger and older workers to fight for what they need, from cost-of-living adjustments for those who still have pension benefits, to having more control over hours worked to combat excessive overtime, to more training for new hires.
Jorge Donis, 57, a mechanic who has worked at Boeing for 17 years, told the Militant the issues he sees as most important are bringing the pension back; a bigger wage increase; limiting mandatory overtime, which disregards workers’ lives; and medical benefits.
“The bosses don’t care about our lives,” he said, “we are just numbers to them. The company can work us 19 days in a row if they want to.”
Proposal used crooked math
Aviation maintenance tech Jim “Buck” Wheat said the math put in the rejected contract was intended to hoodwink workers, who figured out it would leave them worse off by the end of it.
“In four years we’ll be 10% behind. They rerouted money. It’s a shell game,” he said, because Boeing would have taken away a bonus that workers rely on annually for about 4% of their wages, turning the 25% raise into about 9%.
“These kids need something to work with. I came here because I could work ’til I was 55, for decent pay. We used to pay nothing for health care,” he said.
“Over the years they’ve chipped away at quality,” Wheat said, pointing to the two Boeing 737 Max plane crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. Wheat called it a showcase example of the company cutting corners on safety to get the planes out the door.
Adam Las, 18, is a mechanic who has worked at the Renton plant here for one year. The biggest issue for him is wages. Boeing’s proposed increase is diminished by inflation.
Las said the contract was very vague on overtime. “There are some new restrictions in the current offer, but the company can still mandate us to work overtime on the weekends when they want to.”
Tensions built up for years
This is the first strike at Boeing since 2008, when the union — after 57 days on the picket line — won modest raises, particularly for the lowest-paid workers, and beat back plans by the company to pass on costs for medical insurance.
After the strike Boeing opened a nonunion assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. Some 5,000 lower-paid workers now build Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft there. Efforts have been made to unionize the workers at the plant, according to Bland.
In 2011, under threats from Boeing that it would pull more production out of Washington, the union voted up a four-year extension by 74%. That contract included a modest wage increase but introduced payments for medical insurance for the first time.
In 2014 Boeing demanded an eight-year contract extension. While the local union leadership opposed taking a vote on it, the International Association of Machinists national leadership overruled them. Under that bitterly contested deal, voted up by 51% to 49%, the pension plan was scrapped.
In its most recent securities filing, Boeing reported that its order backlog was $516 billion at the end of June, and it wants to get nearly a quarter of that as revenue next year.
Bland told the Militant now is a good time to fight, mentioning struggles to win the union and contracts by autoworkers in the South that have encouraged many here. “It’s all on what you’re willing to fight for. If you’re not going to fight, you’re not going to get it,” he said.
Negotiations were set to resume between the union and Boeing Sept. 18. IAM members will collect $250 a week in strike pay after the third week on strike.
Many passing car drivers honk and wave as they go by, or throw a fist in the air to show support. The bosses are getting support from the Seattle Times, which claims the workers are greedy and their strike will damage the region’s economy, trying to pit other workers against the strikers. But Chardonnai Martinez, a small-business owner who lives in the neighborhood of the Renton plant, told the Militant, “I like seeing people strike for what they believe in.”
Big stakes exist for all working people in this struggle. The issues are mirrored in countless workplaces across the country. Your help is needed for the Machinists to win! Talk to others about the fight. Win support from your union or group. Stop by and walk the picket line. Send a message or contribution to keep them afloat. The IAM District 751 union hall is at 9125 15th Place S., Seattle, WA 98108.