Cadence-Giddens Aerospace Workers Vote to Join IAM

Hourly workers at Cadence Aerospace-Giddens in Everett, WA voted by a 3-to-2 margin to join IAM District 751.

Hourly workers at Cadence Aerospace-Giddens in Everett, WA are now part of IAM District 751.

The National Labor Relations Board certified the results of the union election at the company, which had been held May 14-15. Hourly workers had voted by a roughly 3-to-2 margin in favor of joining the union.

“This has been another exciting week for our Territory and the IAM, but more importantly for those workers who stood up to their employer and said enough is enough; we want a voice in our future with this company,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Gary Allen.

The union has moved ahead with preparations for negotiating a first union contract for the Cadence-Giddens workers. IAM 751 President Jon Holden has appointed his chief of staff, Richard Jackson, to lead the negotiating team, and Cadence-Giddens workers have met to nominate shop floor representatives to the committee, and to take surveys to determine their priorities for their first collecting bargaining agreement.

There are about 225 hourly workers at the company’s two Everett plants who produce precision machined aerospace components, subassemblies and kits, and do sheet-metal forming.

The Boeing Co. is a major customer for Cadence-Giddens, but parent company Cadence Aerospace also sells parts to Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman and Fokker, along with providing parts to other aerospace suppliers.

Cadence Aerospace is based in Southern California, and operates seven units across the United States, and one in Mexico.

The Giddens operation has the reputation of being the most-productive and profitable part of the Cadence enterprise, Holden said.

“It’s our job now to negotiate a contract that recognizes the contributions that our new members at Giddens make towards the Cadence group’s success, and rewards them for their hard work and skills,” said Holden.

The Cadence-Giddens employees are the 12th group of workers to join District 751 in the past five years.

The list includes workers at Boeing suppliers like AIM Aerospace in Sumner and Hytek Finishes in Kent, and Jorgensen Forge, a Tukwila metal forging company. It also includes more than 500 civilian employees of nine defense contractors at and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.

In each case, the workers have been able to win contracts with their employers that guarantee them pay increases and improvements in areas like paid time off, while also establishing grievance procedures to help ensure they’re treated more fairly by their managers.

“More and more workers are finding out that they want rights that our union does a great job of providing,” said Holden. “We’re proud to help them organize into a union, so that they can win better futures for themselves and their families.”

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