Boeing workers strike, rejecting deal that cut bonuses, compromised wage demands
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The only thing they have to lose is their chains. Has IAM set up a fund for the striking workers, and if so, are there any links to support it?
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I still remember when Boeing had a happy enough employee base that whenever unionists showed up they got chased away... shows what throwing out ethics and quality does to a company. Others ought to take note.
Can't blame them after hearing all the horror stories.
Can't blame them after hearing all the horror stories.
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Except that Boeing's customers, as well as just about everyone at this point, knows that Boeing's missteps and errors are almost solely the result of decisions made by management over the years, not the rank and file.
I guess CEO Ortberg is about to find out where the buck actually stops.
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I would not be inclined to trust management after all the stories of management not caring about safety.
There's plenty of examples of unions overreaching in recent decades but in this case the business needs a complete overhaul at the top before management has a leg to stand on.
Hopefully this is just the first example of a shift away from pro hedge fund austerity policies in business and a switch towards longevity at the expense of the quarterly report.
The past few decades has seen the country enter a very real cultural cold war where those in power are pitting us against each other so we ignore the financial issues they've purposefully brought on us.
To the Boeing Union, fight on!
We desperately need a stakeholder model used in more businesses. shareholders, employees, creditors, suppliers, customers, and the local community should all be equal in who is expected to benefit from a business.
There's plenty of examples of unions overreaching in recent decades but in this case the business needs a complete overhaul at the top before management has a leg to stand on.
Hopefully this is just the first example of a shift away from pro hedge fund austerity policies in business and a switch towards longevity at the expense of the quarterly report.
The past few decades has seen the country enter a very real cultural cold war where those in power are pitting us against each other so we ignore the financial issues they've purposefully brought on us.
To the Boeing Union, fight on!
We desperately need a stakeholder model used in more businesses. shareholders, employees, creditors, suppliers, customers, and the local community should all be equal in who is expected to benefit from a business.
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Boeing should've offered them shares if they wanted workers to sacrifice some of their income for the company's survival. The workers would invest their time and effort in becoming part owners in the company. It should also be voting shares so they can throw out the leaders who bankrupted boeing
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The 25% increase being reported is a really dishonest number. When you factor in the bonuses they lose, it's closer to a 10% increase. I know the bonus was mentioned in the article but the math is real bad for these folks.
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So, a problem with efficient markets is that it lags (if it's efficient at all). When the MBA's took over, they destroyed the value of the company by making planes that crash. But for a brief moment, they paid less money, and their stocks doubled. Because the DOW is weighted weirdly, it caused the Dow to jump 20% in 2017. So the real value of the company should have gone down, and the american economy only looked like it was ok when in reality we were losing our biggest aerospace company.
People who remember only the top line think the economy was great at that time, instead of seeing we let the corporations destroy value.
People who remember only the top line think the economy was great at that time, instead of seeing we let the corporations destroy value.
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According to the Arsticle,
Ashley Belanger said:
they have mandatory overtime.
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To anyone downvoting this quoted comment this is in reference to the perception they killed two whistleblowers
I don't have any idea if that claim is true, I really doubt it, but it shows how much distrust there is because the idea gained traction.
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I didn't notice any guys on the street when I came in to work today. Does the strike not begin until this (Friday) midnight as opposed to last night? Or do they just not have signs made up yet?
Note: I work on the other side of the river from the main Seattle Boeing facilities.
Regardless glad they striked. They can and should get more than what was offered. I think that essentially fake promise to build the next (not even conceptually planned yet) plane in Seattle just pissed them off with how obviously hollow it was.
edit: The AP has some photos of them picketing down at the Renton plant. Which makes sense, that's where they make the 737 MAX. The Seattle facilities are primarily where the Engineers are, which is a different Union.
Note: I work on the other side of the river from the main Seattle Boeing facilities.
Regardless glad they striked. They can and should get more than what was offered. I think that essentially fake promise to build the next (not even conceptually planned yet) plane in Seattle just pissed them off with how obviously hollow it was.
edit: The AP has some photos of them picketing down at the Renton plant. Which makes sense, that's where they make the 737 MAX. The Seattle facilities are primarily where the Engineers are, which is a different Union.
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Collective action! One of the few things with enough power to hit these companies in the wallet, which is the powerhouse of the corporate cell.
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96%?? Holy shit! That is THE COMPANY. This is not "Boeing workers are on strike."
That makes it sound like some percentage are on strike but the company is still operating.
No, Boeing went on strike. Effectively all of it. The workers absolutely have the C suite by the balls.
If they hold strong, they can get virtually anything. They literally have leverage to replace the entire C suite and everyone with a P or VP title.
I really hope they don't lose sight of the utterly insane amount of power they have right now. If the US government wants Boeing to continue to be a part of its defense program, they'll have to deal with this situation.
Boeing's execs are in their least powerful positions of any roles they've had their entire careers. They are fucking COOKED.
That makes it sound like some percentage are on strike but the company is still operating.
No, Boeing went on strike. Effectively all of it. The workers absolutely have the C suite by the balls.
If they hold strong, they can get virtually anything. They literally have leverage to replace the entire C suite and everyone with a P or VP title.
I really hope they don't lose sight of the utterly insane amount of power they have right now. If the US government wants Boeing to continue to be a part of its defense program, they'll have to deal with this situation.
Boeing's execs are in their least powerful positions of any roles they've had their entire careers. They are fucking COOKED.
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So I guess I haven't been paying attention, but where did this debt come from? Equity looting?
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It’s not even that radical an idea.
Instead of letting one boss unilaterally decide things that could negatively affect the lives of dozens of employees, the boss has to - get this - negotiate with the employees to make sure they’re not getting screwed over for no reason.
Because as much as bosses love the whole “I built this company” narrative, no employees = no revenue = no business.
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The article reports that the union says it negotiated the best deal they could get without a strike, and that it was up to the members to decide the next step.
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They will be counting on reps who got Boeing so much business. No free market at play here, unless everybody is out of patience with Boeing and concocts a perfect storm against shareholders and whatever.
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Exactly how old are you? I worked for Boeing for 18years all over the Puget Sound and at no time were the employees so "happy" that they ran off unionists and the Machinists have been union and striking for as long as I can remember.
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I am generally QUITE pro-union, but I've worked at a few different places where we were all treated very well, and we beleived in the company and our work.
Unions came up a few times, but was rejected quickly and completely.
Unionization only comes about for a reason, it never just randomly sprouts. The cause is ALWAYS in the control of the executives.
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Hey, they're not going to let any of their contractors slack off either. 20% more hits at the same pay or you're fired!
They've been plowing profits into stock buybacks, rather than investing in the company. The issues with 787, 737 MAX, 777X, Starliner, VC-25B, KC-46 (jeez, the list just keeps going) have required expensive remediation and long delays before they can start selling them and realizing revenue. They've also had to pay compensation to the victims of crashes and to the airlines.
The cause is pretty simply: skipping tests up front, and contracting out major systems and assuming the contractor had the right specs and will build to spec. These "save money" only if you don't count the above costs.
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If I was in a meeting and asked on my opinion of continuing doing business with Boeing I would connect a big screen to a laptop and start to show why has Boeing been in the news or in recent years. Most of it is negative.
Stock price is driven largely on hype and public perception not just in facts. The public image of Boeing just keeps getting worse, the public hates the company more and more and the facts are this company has been stuck in a hole for a long time and they got showels to keep digging deeper.
It is a big company yes, but it is not the only option unless you are already stuck in a long term contract with them.
Thing is, contracts do expire so even those companies who decided to wait and see may not do future business with Boeing unless they get their act together.
They aren't getting their act together so far.
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Boeing still has one large customer: The Department of Defense. That's a problem in itself!
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I don’t believe that for a second. Boeing is a huge company, with a very diverse portfolio of products and crucial to national interest (no matter how shitty they handle these obligations).
What could happen is a short term cash flow crunch until prices reflect honest working conditions. And that would hurt the share price (terrible, I know). Maybe a few other executives need to pull a golden parachute. But I don’t see Boeing going under.
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Unfortunately, that would not materialize that way. At least based on the corporation that I work for. The board gets a "modest" salary, but then gives themselves millions upon millions in stock for a bonus. Thus they control it regardless. And they love those sweet dividends that get taxed far below the level of my income tax.
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That would probably be electoral suicide.
But it would probably get Biden a personal "Thank You" card from Guillaume Faury and He Dongfeng for his help with employee retention and recruitment, so there's that.
Well, perhaps not from Faury, because he won't let pulling a quick "for the lulz" -- no matter how amusing -- get into the way of selling every single plane they can make.
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They save money so you hit your bonus targets this year. And when these problems come home to roost your successor just points to you as an excuse. It’s a win-win except for the passengers, the customers, the public, and the shareholders.
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