Machinists to Boeing: ‘Stop blaming us for troubles’

Published 1:05 pm Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Boeing’s unions weren’t happy with the company’s fourth quarter loss or its increasing job cuts announced Wednesday.

The Machinists union, which went on strike for 57 days last fall, is growing tired of shouldering the blame for Boeing’s lost revenues due to missed jet deliveries.

From district president Tom Wroblewski’s statement:

Boeing finds it easy to blame a two-year delay in getting the 787 off the ground on our 57-day strike. They will never admit it was poor management decisions or a business model that failed miserably which caused the first loss in revenue in recent years. Had they compromised a little on the contract, respected their workforce and negotiated fairly, they could have avoided a strike. Boeing could have continued on with their record making profits for 2008, but they chose a take it or leave-it attitude rather than negotiating in good faith.

Both the Machinists and SPEEA, the company’s engineers union, say Boeing should lay off contractors before union members.