HeraldNet: Boeing Machinists’ strike deferred



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Aerospace Blog

September 4, 2008

Boeing Machinists’ strike deferred

Posted at 12:48 am

What will the next 48 hours bring in the conflict between Boeing and its Machinists union?

Something was amiss from the moment Machinists’ aerospace coordinator Mark Blondin stepped up to the microphone around 9:30 Wednesday night.

He didn’t yell the word the crowd had waited to hear: Strike.

Machinists standing in the back of the Seattle union hall were getting restless. “Give us the numbers” and “get on with the show” were just a few of the statements hollered as Blondin talked about the long road of negotiations between the union and the Boeing Co.

Then came the numbers: 80 percent of Machinists rejected Boeing’s three-year labor contract and 87 percent voted to strike, exceeding the 66.7 percent needed to sanction a work stoppage.

Story over?

Not quite.

Blondin dropped the bombshell: Machinists leaders will give Boeing another 48 hours at the bargaining table. Union members will not go on strike just yet.

I’m amazed that Blondin and district president Tom Wroblewski made it out of the union hall unscathed. The Machinists on hand were ready to walk out on Boeing. They wanted to “put the tools down” (as Blondin had suggested previously) and pick up their picket signs.

Boeing has two days to meet Machinists’ needs or the union lifts the strike pause button they pressed Wednesday night.

But Boeing’s Doug Kight wasn’t guaranteeing any concessions during a press conference even later Wednesday night. Kight said the company would listen to the union’s concerns. But he emphasized that Machinists leaders need to boil it down to a few “critical issues.”

Depending on those critical points, Boeing may modify what the company had described as its final offer.

From Machinists’ reactions Wednesday, it would seem Boeing would need to move on several issues.

The union says it’s imposing a media blackout during these last-minute talks.

We’ll continue talking to Machinists (and reading/posting emails from union members) to see how they’re feeling about this latest, unexpected twist in the Boeing-Machinists contract saga.

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Strike: Leadership or Betrayl
As I sit here in disbelief, I have to wonder what our Union leadership is thinking. With an overwhelming vote to strike, our union took action to voice their dissatisfaction with a contract that gutted the Union. Our Union is strong, we have proved it, from the young to the old, from the new hires to the seasoned veterans. We are ready to stand the line shoulder to shoulder to protect each others jobs, bringing a unity and equality to all.
Our union leadership should stop trying to be diplomatic and start being the gutsy organization that we believe in, that is looking after our best interest. A strike was called by the membership, a strike should be in place. We should be walking the lines, encouraging one another, holding up each other. Instead our enthusiasm is shattered by the "leadership" of the Union. I am angry, I am a member of IAM 751 in good standing, we should be on the line, and the Company should be coming to us.
We felt that the contract that the company was offering was trying to divide the union. What is the Union Leadership trying to do? Let us stand together NOW, and fight for a contract that we all can be PROUD to accept.
Mark Emery | Sep 4, 2008 7:39 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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