HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source
Heraldnet.com
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 7:19 pm
LocalNorthwestNation & WorldPoliticsSpecial ReportsPhotosColumnistsMultimedia 
RECENT POSTS:
• Boeing, Northrop tanker news  November 19

• Boeing delays; AirTran and Obama; Southwest's ambitions  November 19

• Boeing engineers bothered by lack of bonus in contract  November 18

• For SPEEA members: How do you like Boeing’s contract offer?   November 15

• Boeing's latest ups and downs; reader question  November 14
Archives:
LINKS:

Airbus
• Airbus
 • EADS
 • Orders and Deliveries
Analysts
• Richard Aboulafia
 • Scott Hamilton
Blogroll
• FleetBuzz
 • IAG Blog
 • Randy Tinseth's blog
Flight museum
• Future of Flight
 • Museum of Flight
Labor Group
• International Association of Machinists
 • Local 751 Machinists
 • SPEEA
Tanker competition
• Air Force
 • Boeing's KC-767 tanker
 • Boeing's tanker blog
 • Government Accountability Office
 • Northrop's America's New Tanker
• Northrop-EADS' KC-30
The Boeing Co.
• Boeing Commercial Airplanes
 • Employment
 • New Airplane
 • Orders and Deliveries
RELATED ARTICLES:
• Woman gives birth at 33,000 feet  November 20
• Boeing cuts defense 800 jobs, sees pending delivery backlog peaking  November 20
• Report details mental breakdown of 767 pilot  November 19
• County jobless rate climbs   November 19
• Analyst's remarks help push Boeing shares down 4 percent  November 19
• SPEEA gets new contract ready to mail to members  November 18
• Boeing completes destructive testing on 787 Dreamliner wing box  November 15
• Deal likely to avert strike of Boeing engineers  November 15
• Boeing delays 777 Freighter, 747-8 deliveries  November 15
• 767's turbulence likely caused deadly jet crash  November 14
Interactive
Special report
 

ADVERTISEMENT
Aerospace Blog
August 29, 2008

 
 

Poll: Will the Machinists get enough votes to strike the Boeing Co.?


Posted at 1:29 pm by Michelle Dunlop

Negotiators for the Machinists union have recommended that their members reject the Boeing Co.'s three-year contract offer and go on strike.

The 24,000 Machinists in the Puget Sound region will vote on Boeing's contract Sept. 3. The union needs 66.6 percent of its members to reject the company's offer and agree to strike. A work stoppage would start at 12:01 a.m., Sept. 4.

What do you think of union leaders' decision? Should the members strike?

Cast your vote in our reader poll, post a comment below or send me an e-mail
READER COMMENTS
Click here to see all Aerospace Blog comments
Log in or register to post new comment | Log out
STRIKE!!!
I know other boards have many posters that bash us Boeing employees. They think that we should bring ourselves down to their financial level so that they can feel better about themselves. Of course there are times when I don't have a lot of work to do and I make decent money.

At the same time, this job is not always a safe one. I have scalped myself requiring 14 staples in me head and my hair will never grow back correctly. I have sprained my ankle badly. I have smashed or drilled multiple body parts like many others here. I don't see that happening to friggen people sitting in an office. I am exposed to cancer causing chemicals on a daily basis. I walk about 1/2 a mile or more to/from the parking lot.

We still don't know what is going to happen to us with all this carbon fiber dust floating all over.

Many of us that have riveted for a while have carpal tunnel or bad backs because of the work we do. These high wages some of us get are because we have put up with a bunch of crap for years and sacrifice our health and damn sanity to work here.

How many of you have planned a trip, purchased tickets, and then the day before you are supposed to leave, the boss comes to you and says you are now on designated overtime, both days on the weekend and 10 hour days during the week? Of course when this happens, you have to cancel your trip, even if you lose money on the tickets. This **** happens, and it happens all over the company.

We can be required to work up to 19 days in a row, with 10 hour days m-f and 8 hour days on weekends.

This isn't a god damned gravy train like everybody thinks.

If you couple this will all the things that have been taken away from us over the years when the company had the upper hand, it is very easy to understand the union's position and the workers.

I came in at $12.72 an hour in 1996. People coming in today in my job come in at $12.72 also. Do the math people.
dave bob | Aug 29, 2008 2:46 pm | 2 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal
Vote Yes!
While it is always true that Boeing could offer more in a new contract, this is by far the best offer most Machinists have ever seen. Most articles of the contract have improvements or are kept the same. Very few if no take-aways are in this contract offer.
The union feels they have the upper hand this time and are going for the jugular. All areas that earlier were identified as strike issues were conceded to the union and now union leadership apparently has added more. You need to ask yourself "who's best interest are they looking out for?"
Make up your own mind, don't let a few fanatics wreck your financial future.Vote yes for the contract and no to strike. Good for you and good for the Boeing Company.
Jet Builder | Aug 30, 2008 10:09 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal
  Return to Aerospace Blog
TODAY'S TOP JOBS
 View All Top Jobs 
Top Cars
>> view all top cars
>> view all cars
Top Homes
>> view all top homes
>> view all homes


ADVERTISEMENT
|Contact Us |Advertiser Services |Home Delivery |Newsstand Locations |Classifieds |Feedback |About the Company |Work@the Herald |Site Map
© 2008 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA.