Thousands of IAM members and their families marched in support of their negotiating committee members at a rally in SeaTac, Washington, prior to Boeing's presentation of its "best and final offer" days before the contract expired.
September 6, 2008 - 27,000 IAM members at Boeing locations in Washington State's Puget Sound, Portland, Oregon, Wichita, Kansas and Edwards Air Force Base, California, walked off the job and directly to the picket lines after extended contract talks between the IAM and Boeing failed yesterday. The 48 hour extension, sought by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and assisted by a federal mediator, followed an 80% contract rejection and a whopping 87% strike sanction in a vote held September 3rd.
The strike is the second in as many contracts; IAM members also struck the company for 28 days in 2005. Analysts estimate the costs to Boeing at approximately $100 million per day, causing disruption to airplane production and further delays to the long-awaited 787 Dreamliner, slated to begin flight tests this fall.
Improvements were sought in the areas of job security, medical costs, pensions and equitable wage increases for both newer and longer-term members.
In addition, the Boeing Company faces the prospect of labor board charges over a systematic campaign of interviewing employees in “one on one” meetings about specific contract proposals. IAM District 751 in Seattle, WA, filed an unfair labor practice complaint charging the Boeing Company with engaging in an illegal strategy to avoid the union and deal directly with employees.
Federal labor law requires employers to bargain exclusively with its employees’ designated union representatives. Surveys or questions aimed at ascertaining employees’ opinions or “bottom lines” on contract proposals during contract negotiations are unlawful. Such conduct is called “direct dealing” and is strictly prohibited by the National Labor Relations Board.
"Boeing came to the table with take-aways, just like they did in 2005," remarked Western Territory GVP Lee Pearson. "That move was both unnecessary and arrogant in lieu of their record profits and remarkable backlog. The company tried to circumvent our negotiators and have bargained themselves into a strike instead of what could have been an industry-leading agreement that would have propelled both Boeing and our members forward for the next three years."
Boeing has a backlog of more than 3,600 orders reported in July to be valued at $346 billion.
