Machinists head to the polls, Airbus workers strike

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, March 15, 2007

As members of Boeing’s local labor union hit the polls today to elect a new district president, their counterparts at Airbus hit the streets to protest the European plane maker’s plan to ax 10,000 jobs.

Machinists have until 8 p.m. to cast their vote for either Clifton Wyatt or Tom Wroblewski (http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/02/21/100bus_machinists001.cfm). Results will be posted on district’s Web site (http://www.iam751.org) by as early as 10 p.m.

Thousands of Airbus workers in France and Germany went on strike while fellow Airbus union members in Spain walked off the job for an hour. Organizers of the strike warned Airbus officials of more severe actions if the unions’ wishes aren’t taken into consideration as Airbus moves ahead with its cost-cutting program.

Representatives of both Boeing’s Machinists union (IAM) and its engineering group (SPEEA) sent the striking Airbus unions letters of support.