Posts tagged IAM
Machinists’ strike could cost Boeing $1 billion a month, estimate suggests
October 10, 2024 // Right now, Boeing is graded a BBB- on the S&P scale, meaning the company has "adequate capacity to meet financial commitments," but is "more subject to adverse economic conditions." With the strike nearing the end of its first month with no end in sight, the financial analysis company could downgrade the aerospace manufacturer to a BB rating, meaning it faces "major ongoing uncertainties to adverse business, financial and economic conditions." This would drop the company below an investment-grade rating. In a statement sent Tuesday night, Boeing COO Stephanie Pope said the strike has "deeply affected our business, our customers and our communities," but said the company remains committed to reaching an agreement with machinists that "recognizes our employees and preserves our company's future." Pope alleged that during the latest negotiations the union made demands "far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive."
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.
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.
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Special Legal Notice to Boeing Employees Impacted by IAM Union Boss Strike Order
September 17, 2024 // Foundation notifies employees that those wishing to continue working during a strike should resign their memberships before returning to work
Boeing workers going on strike after 96% vote for walkout
September 13, 2024 // The deal included a general wage increase of 25%, a $3,000 signing bonus and a pledge to build Boeing's next commercial jet in the Seattle area, provided the program was launched within the four years of the contract. Although IAM leadership recommended last Sunday that its members accept the contract, many workers had responded angrily, arguing for the originally demanded 40% pay rise and lamenting the loss of an annual bonus. "We're going to get back to the table as quickly as we can," Holden told reporters, without saying how long he thought the strike would last or when talks would resume. "This is something that we take one day at a time, one week at a time.” Workers have been protesting all week in Boeing factories in the Seattle area that assemble Boeing's MAX, 777 and 767 jets.
Boeing Seattle factory workers to send ‘strong message’ at strike sanction vote, union says
July 18, 2024 // While the vote is considered procedural, the union is kicking off the 12 p.m. PDT event with fanfare, including an earlier convoy of workers on 800 motorcycles. “It does empower the negotiating committee, it does send a strong message,” union local president Jon Holden said about the vote during a June interview. For example, the vote would free up funds in case members choose to strike later, he added. North American unions have capitalized on tight labor markets to win hefty contracts at the bargaining table, with airline pilots, autoworkers and others scoring big raises.
Teamsters Memo Signals Rift Between Major Unions
June 4, 2024 // In 2013, several years after the Teamsters left the AFL-CIO, the union tried to raid bargaining units at American Airlines and then-U.S. Airways, which later merged with American. The mechanics at U.S. Airways were represented by the IAM. At the time, the IAM accused the Teamsters of “dividing already unionized employees with hollow promises.” The Teamsters and the IAM later reached a peace. They even announced in 2022 that they would work together to organize a broad swath of workers at Delta alongside the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The Teamsters were to represent the airline’s mechanics, the IAM Delta’s ramp and cargo workers, and the AFA Delta’s flight attendants.
Biden appoints UAW president to White House advisory council
June 3, 2024 // The President’s Export Council serves as the main national committee advising the White House on matters of international trade. The group discusses and works to resolve trade-related issues around business, agriculture and labor. The appointment of Fain is the latest instance of the UAW leader emerging as one of Biden’s closest allies in organized labor. Biden walked the picket line with UAW members in Michigan during a strike last year, and Fain and the group endorsed Biden’s reelection bid in January, citing the president’s solidarity with workers.
Penske Truck Rental Employees in Minneapolis and Nashville Seeking Votes to Remove IAM Union Officials
April 18, 2024 // Employees of Penske Truck Rental have submitted petitions seeking votes to remove International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials from power at Penske locations in the Minneapolis, MN, metro area, and in Nashville, TN. Penske employees Kyle Fulkerson and David Saylor filed the petitions at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
Boeing Technician Files Federal Lawsuit Against Machinists Union Over Illegal Forced Dues Demands
May 25, 2022 // Instead of reducing nonmember worker’s payments in accordance with Supreme Court precedent, union bosses charged him arbitrary higher amount