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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 Boeing keeps pressure on Machinists Michelle Dunlop Herald writer EVERETT – Grounded: that’s how the Boeing Co. described its position, due to the Machinists’ strike, at the governor’s aerospace summit in Everett today. “We believe this track record of work stoppages is earning us a reputation as an unreliable supplier,” Fred Kiga, Boeing’s vice president of government and community relations, told members of Washington’s aerospace community. Kiga’s words reiterate the point made yesterday by Jim McNerney, Boeing’s chief executive, in a memo to employees. The Machinists’ strike, in its 32nd day, is bad for Boeing’s business. And Boeing’s message to the union remains the same: the company isn’t willing to bargain on outsourcing. “Aerospace is a global industry and we are a global company,” Kiga said. Boeing and its Machinists union failed to reach a new three-year labor contract last month, sending the Machinists out on strike Sept. 6. The union said Boeing’s offer fell short in wages, pension, health care and job security. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers went on strike against Boeing in 2005 for 28 days. “The IAM is interested in written contract language that ensures that jobs historically performed by Machinist Union members in our factories will continue to be worked by IAM members,” Mark Blondin, aerospace coordinator for the union, wrote in a response to McNerney’s comments. Boeing outsourced design and production work on its new 787 Dreamliner jet – an aircraft that was 15 months behind schedule due to supplier and production issues prior to the strike. Work stoppages benefit only Boeing’s main rival, Airbus, and invite additional competition, Kiga said. “We can’t afford to be known as the strike zone,” he said. Kiga’s remarks came after the Aerospace Futures Alliance, which hosted the event, laid out the state’s top priorities for retaining and growing the aerospace industry in Washington. “Washington is high cost state for doing business,” said Linda Lanham, executive director of the alliance. The group is seeking to reduce unemployment insurance and workers compensation costs for aerospace companies. It also wants to see a statewide program started to provide training for potential aerospace workers. “We can not be complacent here,” Lanham said. Gov. Chris Gregoire noted the importance of the industry in the state with about 87,000 aerospace workers making an average of $90,000 annually. She agreed that state needs training programs and pointed to recent apprenticeship initiative. As for the Machinists’ strike, Gregoire said, “I truly hope that the respective parties … can come back to the table.” Because, she said, “that’s good for Washington.” READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Boeing Pressure Great replies on the Herald Blog . Sad to see Linda Lanham sticking up for Boeing after 25 years or so working as our political coordinator. We are making plenty of money for Boeing and there is no shortage of profit or orders. The union is still down over 20,000 family wage jobs in WA from our high in the 90's. Boeing has never made us partners in this business that is our life. Every tax payer gave Boeing 3 plus billion in direct tax relief and another 4 Billion in infrustructure improvements of Boeings choice. They got a new pier and massive concession with L&I and Unemployment compensation. The teachers paid for this that year as Christi vetod smaller class sizes and COLA for teachers. 35 Business men hyjack congress in 2003 along with the help of this union. Boeing has wasted hundreds of millions on fines and suspensions on Government contracts and has damaged their own reputations with everyone, including us. They can't find hardly one employee who will drink the working together kool-aide. The audacity of these over paid chainsaw jerks like McNerney is appalling to me. The truth needs to come out in a bad way how Boeing Management has ruined our company and how their shared corporate American vision has bankrupted this country. The only thing that trickled down was yellow liquid while all the equity trickled up. They have the arrogance to blame the delayed 787 on the strike and not their poor execution of a bad plan and design. We'll do it guys, hammer the truth in the press and in the blogs until it rings loudly. Highly skill highly paid workers has never broke America nor Boeing, but their Wal Mart business plan has bankrupted our country. Auto workers never broke the car companies, bad design, ho hum customer service and reliablity issues hit the car makers. With all the new saber rattling going on these last couple of days from Boeihng Brass, I'd say they are nervous as hell and want to sign a contract. What they are doing as they have done through the entire bargaining process is brainwashing us to lesson our resolve, expectations and focus on issues. No red ink, LOU 37, and improvements in all areas of the contract. They could have done this from the get go with modest cost and no strike. The Red Ink did them in, flat out greed, 13 Billion in profits and a back log of over 300 Billion more orders to come. More orders are set to be announced when the SPEEA contract is signed. We worked 3.3 Million hours of OT with not one hour credited towards pensions. These hypocrites that are saying no to us and refuse to build a team, are stuffing their pockets with cash as we speak. Don Grinde | Oct 7, 2008 10:19 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Try Looking In The Mirror First “We believe this track record of work stoppages is earning us a reputation as an unreliable supplier,” Fred Kiga, Boeing’s vice president of government and community relations, told members of Washington’s aerospace community. Gosh Fred, maybe it’s the fact that there have been four major delays in your flagship program – none of which have been caused by SPEAA, IAM, or in all honesty any of your Pacific Northwest based employees. Perhaps it’s because you have burned through 2 CEO’s and 5 VP over the last half dozen years due to scandals ranging from bribery to not being able to keep their Johnson corralled. Maybe it’s because those same executive managers have managed to get the company fined over 50 million dollars, lost the company hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, and cost us billions of dollars in contracts. How about when those same ‘angels” managed to get our company banned for 20 months from even bidding on launch contracts because the illegally obtained - and then didn't divulge that they had - 25,000 documents from their competitors? It might be that you have 1 former CEO (who took with him a high ranking Air Force executive) that has done prison time in the Federal Penitentiary. Or the fact that three more high level management employees were waiting for trial. Then again it could be the fact that “there are some within the prosecutors' offices that believe that Boeing is rotten to the core.” They aren’t talking about us peons Fred. So, when your CEO calls your own counsel – Doug Bain, “Dr. Death” – because he dared to tell you that the “problems” the company was facing started at the top – I guess it might be stretching it a bit to think that you could possibly have anything to do with that reputation huh? My Two Cents | Oct 7, 2008 5:00 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) Last I read Boeing was not loosing money. To compare the situation to the auto industry you need to be loosening money. They want us to believe times are bad..... look at the profits Boeing is getting. Boeing received huge tax breaks to keep work in the state. Now they want to move work out of state or country. Boeing quit being greedy and do the right thing. Pay your people, give them some security and let them get back to work. todd christensen | Oct 7, 2008 12:38 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Job Security Unions need to be destroyed. The older generation of union employees have greater job security and make more money. Regardless of their productivity of the young workers, their payoff is to be laid off first due to a lack of senority. The older workers can revel in their job security and some workers stay way past their retirement age without repercussions. Nobody's job should be so secured that performace (or lack of) entitles someone to become "untouchable". It breeds contempt from the younger employees and creates a work environment where performance is not a metric to determine an employee's value to the company. The current global economic crisis should be teaching the union workers a lesson. There is no such thing as job security and do not ask for it. Outsourcing is not a problem. If you can make it cheaper, faster and maintain quality (pick two only), the company would not have to outsource. The strike is also another factor why the company outsources their work. Boeing has to endure these strikes or threats of strike every three years. I rather outsource all my work and not have to deal with this problem on a continual basis. This strike is causing irreparable harm to the company and also to America. Just like Lehman Brothers or other financial companies, we are just digging our own graves in the long run with the current union senority structure. Enorn Valdez | Oct 7, 2008 12:21 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) It is hard to compare Boeing to the auto industry when Boeing has reported/hailed record profits this last year and has received record orders for their product. The order back log is enormous. I am still having a hard time believing that out-sourcing saves Boeing money, especially when one calculates in the cost of transporting the out-sourced product from different sections of the world. With the rising cost of jet fuel, transportation costs have doubled within this last year. Now with Boeing looking into establishing some sort of alliance in Scotland, as reported in the news this month, it is evident the out-source plan appears to be one of a global strategy and one Boeing is committed to. It does appear that Boeing is ready and willing to spend a lot of money to establish out-sourcing in foreign counties and give away more American jobs and money to foreign industry. The wages in some of the countries they have “partnered” with are not cheep labor by any means, so it is not a matter of saving money in all cases. As far as the average employee making $90,000 annually as Gov. Gregoire as stated, she might want to recalculate how much money a new hire at Boeing is receiving. The last time I checked, making $12 an hour or less does not equal $90,000 annually. Why isn't Gov. Gregoire addressing the out-sourcing issue if she is worried about Washington State jobs? Who is going to attend all these training programs she wants to establish if Boeing gives the jobs to other countries? L. Haggen | Oct 7, 2008 11:43 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) Boy those paychecks get bigger every time I read the paper...first we all earned about $60,000, now we're up to $90,000? I make less than $30,000 governor! Stop listening the propaganda the company CEO's are spewing and do your homework. It's your tax base that will be lost, your businesses that will go under and your infrastructures that will suffer if these jobs go away or the company has the right to continue cheapening the labor pool! What happened to all your rhetoric about "living wages"? CC At the Big B | Oct 7, 2008 12:01 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) The governor continues to kowtow to Boeing management. Her flaccid statement does nothing to let Boeing know that they are the ones holding up progress. For Jim McNerney to compare the auto industry is only to let us know that he intends to cheapen labor by any means and will continue to move jobs outside the area and the country. I believe it's time for the board of directors to take a look at the failures of management in regard to supply shortages, rework figures due to faulty and damaged parts from sub-contractors, 787 problems and the failed tanker deal. It's clear that difficulties are not due to a lack of production on the part of the rank and file, who make up less than 5% of production costs, but failed management practices and elitist attitudes that continue to drive a wedge between middle class American workers and those CEOs whose sole purpose seems to be to achieve grossly high personal wealth! CC At the Big B | Oct 7, 2008 11:55 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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