Boeing Co. Machinists did their best to put on a united front yesterday at a strike sanction vote. Ninety-nine percent of union members voted to give union leaders strike authority if things go sour during contract negotiations with Boeing late next month.
Mark Blondin, IAM aerospace coordinator, said that Boeing thinks current union members will “sell out” new hires. The aerospace company wants to eliminate pension plans for new workers and offer them a 401(k) plan instead.
“Nobody gets left behind in the Machinists union,” Blondin said.
On the topic of wages, district president Tom Wroblewski rallied union members by saying that Boeing’s chief executive Jim McNerney makes more in a few hours than a beginning Machinist will make in a year. Entry level pay – which can be as low as $12.72 an hour – has been a sore spot with the union for years.
Herald photographer Kevin Nortz put together a photo gallery from yesterday’s strike sanction.
- Manipulate stock, not us.
- Show us the money!
- No more cut$.
- Pensions: Roar for more.
- Tell Kight to go fly a kite.
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