Machinists Postpone Boeing Strike...for now

It looks like Sunday...

 

_________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Will unions push Boeing to the brink?

Unemployment: 9.7%

Foreclosures: Up 40%

Union pushing a company to the brink? Priceless.

After enduring a month-long strike in Long Beach, California, Boeing has another possible strike looming in St. Louis.

This time the Machinists' are balking at this offer:

Key features of the contract offer to approximately 2,500 represented St. Louis-area employees include:
-- $5,000 lump sum payment in year 1 of the agreement
-- 3 percent general wage increases in years 2, 3, and 4, and an additional 3 percent in the remaining seven months of the contract
-- Basic retirement benefit increased to $81/month per year of benefit service effective Sept. 1, 2010; a $11 (15.7 percent) improvement from $70 today
-- Excellent health care benefits at a moderate cost to employees
Current health care coverage and employee contributions continue through Dec. 31, 2013
-- Continued company savings plan match of 50 percent of the first 6 percent contributed (increases match for employees hired after Dec. 31, 2004, from 50 percent of first $70/week to 50 percent of first 8 percent). Employees hired on or after Jan. 1, 2012, will also receive a 4 percent automatic company contribution to their Voluntary Investment Plan, vested immediately, in lieu of participation in the Employee Retirement Income Plan – Hourly East.

Read the rest here:

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Does the Machinists Union Want Boeing's SC Plant Closed?

Last year, we reported on the Machinists vs. Boeing jobs saga that ended with Boeing deciding to produce part of the new 787 in Charleston, South Carolina.  At the heart of Boeing's decision to manufacture in the South was the International Association of Machinists (IAM).

In sum, Boeing wanted a no-strike pledge from the union, which the union would only agree to if Boeing would let the union unionize more if the company.  Ultimately, the Company said, 'no thanks' and opened the plant in Charleston.  Of, course, it helps that the South Carolina plant is union-free.

Clearly, Boeing's move to the South enraged the union.  Now, the IAM is hoping to give Boeing some union payback by  filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board.  The union is claiming that Boeing's new plant is a retaliatory move by the company for the union's 2008 strike.

The Machinists union has filed a complaint against Boeing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), charging that the company was retaliating for a 2008 union strike when it decided last fall to put a second Dreamliner assembly line in Charleston, S.C., rather than Everett.

It is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act for employers to retaliate against workers for engaging in lawful activities, including strikes.

[snip]

In a statement, District 751 president Tom Wroblewski cited public declarations by senior Boeing executives tying the selection of North Charleston to a desire to avoid Machinists' strikes in the Puget Sound region.

Such declarations, Wroblewski said, "send a message to workers that they should not stand up for their rights at the bargaining table. We will not allow this unlawful intimidation to stand as we prepare for the 2012 contract negotiations."

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company believes the charges are "meritless."

The IAM struck Boeing for two months in fall 2008, the fourth strike in a decade. Early the following year, Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney told Washington's congressional delegation the repeated strikes were a major problem and the company would seek another location for its second 787 assembly line unless the union agreed to a long-term no-strike clause.

"We were entirely transparent with the IAM," Healy said. "We needed an agreement that would allow us to meet our customer commitments. [Emphasis added.]

While the IAM's case seems flimsy at best, with the new union-controlled NLRB in Washington, one cannot predict how the NLRB will ultimately rule, especially given the union desire to decimate long-standing legal precedent.

If the NLRB happens to rule in the union's favor, it is possible one of the remedies it could order would be for Boeing to close the Charleston plant and bring the work back to the union in Puget Sound.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Machinists Authorize Another Strike Against Boeing

Apparently, Machinists at the Grand Lodge in Upper Marlboro, Maryland didn't get the message when Boeing moved a portion of its 787 production to South Carolina last year.  This time, its not the IAM in WaSta that may be going out on strike, but the Machinists in St. Louis:

Machinists at Boeing's St. Louis defense systems plant have authorized a strike if a contract is not accepted before the current agreement expires next month.


The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 said in a statement that the strike authorization vote was supported by 99 percent of the workers who attended a meeting on Sunday.


District 837 president Gordon King says seniority, pension, health care and job protection are the key issues.

Nothing like killing the goose when you get your gander up...

__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

WHO BLEW IT? An Anti-Business State and Fighting Machinists Lose Bout for Boeing Jobs

The months-long, cross-country suspense over who gets the new 787 Dreamliner production line is finally over.

Leaving an Anti-Business Climate

The Boeing Co. has finally reached the conclusion to locate its second production line for the new 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, far away from what many view as the anti-business climate in Washington State.

While the decision is not sitting well with the International Association of Machinists, the union should not be too surprised either.

In September, the union was overwhelmingly decertified at Boeing's facility in South Carolina and, based on press reports, Boeing may have finally tired of its acrimonius relationship with the "Fighting Machinists."
According to Bloomberg:

The union was willing to extend its current four-year contract by another eight years, ensuring no strikes through at least 2020, to secure the 787 work, Rich Michalski said. Instead, Boeing shut down talks two days before its Oct. 26 board meeting and announced Oct. 28 that it would open a plant in the southeastern U.S. state, the first time it has built a commercial-aircraft assembly line outside the Seattle area.

“They won’t ever get us to commit like that again,” Michalski said in an interview last night. “That’s over.”

Sound like the drum beats of war for Boeing in their next round of negotiations.

Pro-union commentator and UC Berkley professor Harvey Shaiken adds: “The risk for Boeing is, moving to South Carolina does not solve its labor issues with the IAM; if anything it adds a troubling new layer to them.”

Unreasonable Demands?

However, despite the IAM's pledge not to strike, it appears that the IAM didn't leave much choice for Boeing.

Boeing says the IAM "demanded new planes be built here [in Washington], offered only an eight-year no-strike guarantee and wanted a gold pass to organize everyone and everything in the company."

Of course, that was in addition to three percent increases every year for another eight years following the 2012 expiration of the union's current contract.

A Parade of Noise-Making Machinists

It also appears that dealing with the Machinists' union and its apparently constant antagonism may be a bigger driving influence behind Boeing's decision.

Matt Gettmann began working in finance at Boeing Co. last year, and it wasn't long before he found himself watching, stunned, as union members prepared for what became an eight-week strike.

The work stoppage cost the company billions in deferred revenue and caused some of the delays in production of its new 787 at a time when Boeing was growing increasingly frustrated with labor squabbles.

"There would be a parade of people, thousands and thousands of them, making noises and screaming" — right in the factory, Gettmann said. "That's the employee-employer relationship? It's shocking."

....

"This looks very much like a company that's tired of dealing with this union, and they've found a way out," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group. "The union needs to put aside the concept of who's right and who's wrong, and look at who's winning and who's losing. This is not going well from their perspective."

Now that would be an understatment!

Boeing, Boeing...Gone?

Time will tell if Boeing shifts more of its production to more labor-friendly locales, but for the IAM in Puget Sound and Washington State offcials, this should serve as a wake-up call:

Chasing business away with anti-business regulations and unrealistic union demands is not being 'pro-worker'--especially when it causes jobs to be lost.

Follow LaborUnionReport on Twitter.

Cross-posted on RedState.com