Boeing gets concessions from Machinists in Seattle

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In November, the International Association Of Ma­ chinists (IAM) District Lodge 751 showed the labor movement what a fightback looks like. The machinists organized, rallied, and received solidarity for their struggle against Boeing from unions throughout the Seattle area. Boeing wanted major concessions in the midst of their current contract and used threats to leave Washington and build the 777X in another state.

Boeing’s demands for big concessions on pension and health benefits started only days after Washing­ ton’s Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed the big­ gest state tax break in history into law—a package that will give Boeing up to $8.7 billion in benefits through 2040.

The union called their bluff and rejected Boeing’s proposal 67% to 33%. Union members across the country took heart in the machinists’ victory. They are a union that has gone on strike five times, and Boeing was now coercing their members to accept conces­ sions that included ending their defined benefit pen­ sions. Since the current contract had not yet elapsed when this threat took place, the workers could not legally strike.

After the machinists had rejected the concessions, Boeing then commenced a high-profile cross-country jaunt, meeting with local politicians in other states concerning deals to move operations to their areas. Armed with a renewed threat to relocate, they then came back to Seattle with another proposal for the machinists. The local leadership rejected the new of­ fer, stating that it was not substantially different than the one they had just rejected. Thomas Wroblewski, president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751, said, “Because of the massive takeaways, the union is adamantly recommending members reject this offer.” (Wroblowski has resigned effective Jan. 31 for health reasons, stating that he has been in the hospital twice in the last couple of months for “stress.”)

District 751’s leaders opposed Boeing’s demand that the machinists approve a deal that would freeze their pensions in favor of less generous, riskier 401(k) plans, and eliminate pensions for new hires. These leaders also voiced dismay that the deal would in­ crease out-of-pocket health spending (by as much as $4000 over 2011 levels over the life of the contract), and that it would include raises of merely 1 percent every other year.

But in December, the IAM International leadership stepped in and forced the local to hold another vote. They scheduled the vote for Friday, Jan. 3, before many members had returned from vacations during the holiday plant shutdown. Many machinists also say they were not being given enough time to study and discuss the revised proposal. The new vote was an­ nounced four days before Christmas. It passed 51% to 49%. The revised contract will ban workers from striking until 2024. To sweeten the taste of the con­ cessions they demanded, the company will give each worker a “bonus” of $10,000 later this month, and an­ other $5000 in 2020.

Jim Levitt, a 35-year machinist at Boeing, described the voting procedure in Everett, Wash., the location of the largest airplane assembly plant in the world: “Members needed an eligibility card, sent to them by mail, to obtain a ballot to vote on the contract. A huge number did not receive the card in time. They thus needed to obtain a ‘good standing’ card, requiring a stop at the front desk in the union hall. Problem: only two or three office employees were available at the Everett hall. There are only two or three computers for them to use to check the necessary rosters in any case. Result: thousands of union members spent two hours or more waiting in line out in the cold outside the union hall. I’m astonished there wasn’t an explo­ sion.”

Jim Bearden, a spokesperson for IAM District Lodge 751, told the media that Boeing production workers “faced tremendous pressure from every source imag­ inable. The politicians and the media, and others, who truly didn’t have a right to get into our business, were aligned against us and did their best to influence our folks’ votes.”

Connie Kelliher, the IAM District 751 director of communications, commented that one-third of the workers were on vacation when the vote was called. Many members were still on vacation the day of the vote. Less than half the members voted, and many are calling for a revote or a recount.

She noted that by forcing a second vote the Inter­ national gave Boeing time to start their campaign against the machinists. Starting from November, after the first vote was taken, they did a major campaign including round-the-clock radio ads telling machinists they would lose their jobs and be responsible for the financial ruin for the state.

Thousands of flyers flooded the factories in the days right before the vote. And because there is a contract in place for the next two years, the right to strike was taken away if there was a “no” vote. “We did not have that weapon,” Kelliher stated.

The request for the revote has to go to the Interna­ tional to decide, and they are the ones who chose the date in the first place.

Boeing executives chose to remain silent the day af­ ter the Machinists’ vote. But the Seattle Times stated that the top officials from the IAM National Headquar­ ters who were in Gov. Jay Inslee’s office were “almost giddy.” “It’s going to be sunny in Seattle for another 40 or 50 years,” gushed Rich Michalski, who represented the International Association of Machinists (IAM) na­ tional headquarters in the 777X negotiations.

“Boeing is going to be here forever now. It’s all about being able to compete with the rest of the world,” he added, sounding just like a Boeing executive.

Local aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton says that though the 777X deal puts this state in a better po­ sition to win the work of building future Boeing air­ planes, it’s “hyperbole” to talk about guaranteeing fu­ ture work. When the jet-maker launches its next new airplanes, likely a 757 replacement around 2019 or a