Posts tagged Boeing

    Boeing drama: Imagine if a recent proposal to pay striking workers UI benefits had become law

    October 1, 2024 // Giving UI benefits to striking workers would create an imbalance between business and labor, make strikes more frequent and lengthy, increase costs and services for consumers and hurt other workers in the state who are told they can rely on unemployment benefits. Giving fund dollars to people choosing not to work should offend all Washington state workers. These union-favor bills failed to pass the finish line in the last moments of the 2024 session, but big labor promises the policy proposal will be back. I hope lawmakers aren’t into it, especially after being able to clearly see what a Boing strike could do to the fund.

    OPINION: For Workers, Strikes Offer High Risk, Low Reward

    September 30, 2024 // The only way to avoid union retaliation is cancelling membership entirely. Beyond the rank-and-file, consequences of union strikes impact consumers, too. Last year, the healthcare industry, for example, saw the largest work stoppage in United States history as 75,000 hospital employees across five states plus Washington, D.C. walked off the job

    Boeing strike costs top $1.4 billion as pressure on company mounts

    September 27, 2024 // The second week of the strike was more costly than the first, “as is typical for major industrial strikes,” Anderson noted. After union members overwhelmingly voted to reject an initial contract proposal earlier this month, the IAM refused to vote this week on Boeing’s “best and final offer” that included a 30 percent pay hike and a $6,000 contract ratification bonus, double the initial offer.

    Textron Aviation workers go on strike after rejecting company’s offer

    September 24, 2024 // If the strikes continue over a month, issues could form in the supply chains. Other workers who talked to KSN on Monday after the strike began say the negotiations were helpful but did not go far enough. “The negotiations got pretty far, said Troy Greene, who is also a shop steward. “There were some things in the deal that were pretty good. But we decided to hold out and get what we think we deserve.”

    Boeing union members are angry they lost their pension plan. They’re not likely to get it back

    September 24, 2024 // But the fact is that the traditional pension plans, once a staple of the retirement of many workers, have become exceedingly rare in the modern American workplace. And once a company drops traditional pensions plans to shift employees to a 401(k) type of retirement account, they are almost always gone for good. While other unions have also sought to have lost pension plans restored, as the United Auto Workers union did during its successful strike at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis last fall, no American union has ever succeeded in bringing them back. Even though the auto strike produced a deal with record pay raises and other gains for the UAW, it did not restore pension plans to workers hired since 2007.

    Commentary: Labor strikes add to Harris union headache after Teamsters snub

    September 23, 2024 // The announcement laid bare what could be a major liability for Harris ahead of the election. She is supported by most labor leaders, but rank-and-file members could deny her the presidency if they show up instead for Trump. But Harris also has a second emerging labor headache: Several unions are considering strikes, threatening to upend supply chains weeks out from the November election. Last Friday, more than 30,000 Boeing workers walked off the job, and dockworkers at ports along the Gulf and East coasts are threatening their own strike next month. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain similarly announced on Tuesday his organization will hold strike authorization votes against auto manufacturer Stellantis.

    Boeing Worker Side Hustles Could Drag Strike Out for Months

    September 23, 2024 // But as workers stare down the embattled manufacturer for better pay and benefits, the 33,000 members of IAM District 751 have the full benefit of a tight labor market and gig economy that provides a quick transition into jobs that help make ends meet. That gives the union bargaining leverage, potentially frustrating Boeing’s effort to swiftly end a conflict that’s costing it an estimated $100 million each day. While the battle between one of the world’s largest exporters and its blue-collar workers may look like an uneven fight on its surface, Boeing finds itself in an increasingly untenable situation with its finances so dire that it can ill afford a drawn-out paralysis.

    Boeing says it’s going to start furloughing ‘a large number’ of its white-collar employees amid strike

    September 20, 2024 // Boeing is slated to furlough thousands of employees after 30,000 workers began a strike last week. The strike halted production of key planes like the 737 MAX. Boeing's last strike in 2008 caused significant revenue losses, highlighting the high stakes.