Striking Is in the Air at Boeing

A Boeing worker in Renton, Washington, assembled a 737 MAX wing. The last full contract was negotiated in 2008, with a 58-day strike. Workers are ready to go “Out the Door in ’24” due to low pay, forced overtime, the 2016 elimination of the pension. Photo: Elaine Thompson / AP

https://labornotes.org/2024/08/striking-air-boeing

August 22, 2024 / Jenny Brown

Mondays and Wednesdays are loud at the vast Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. As the Machinists’ contract campaign heats up, the workforce has been serenading management at lunch with air horns, train horns, and vuvuzelas—plus chants of “Out the Door in ’24.”

Forty miles south, in Renton, where workers construct the moneymaking 737, second shift workers have used their meal breaks to blast Bluetooth speakers at top volume with ’90s rap, death metal, ’80s pop, and opera—all simultaneously, said Jon Voss, a 13-year mechanic in the wings building. The resulting racket “really drove management and HR nuts.”

The Boeing contract expires September 12 for 31,000 members of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 751 in Washington and 1,300 District W24 members in Gresham, Oregon. The last time a full contract was negotiated was 2008, with a 58-day strike.

A workday rally July 17 at the Seattle Mariners baseball stadium drew 25,000—including a procession of 800 motorcyclists—and 99.9 percent of members attending voted to sanction a strike, the first step towards a walkout under the Machinists constitution. They will vote again when they see a proposed contract.

DEMORALIZING PAYCHECKS

FULL story at link above.