This just in — they’re still not talking. That doesn’t mean that others aren’t talking about the Machinist union strike against the Boeing Co., however.
Here are a few odds and ends.
The Dominion Post newspaper in New Zealand (Wellington, I believe) reports http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3403980a13,00.html that delivery of Air New Zeland’s first 777 has been delayed by the strike at Boeing’s “Seattle factory.” (Guess Everett looks like just like Ballard from the far side of the globe.)
Key Quote: “Air New Zealand had expected to take delivery of the first of eight 313-seat 777s on October 3, but yesterday said this had been put back for two or three weeks.”
I’m not a regular watcher of CNBC’s Jim Cramer — I spend all day listening to people rant and rave about the economy, I don’t need more of that when I get home — but TheStreet.com reports http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/funds/madmoneywrap/10241441.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA that on Wednesday’s show he advised viewers that now’s a good time to buy Boeing stock.
Key Quote: “There are situations when you need to own a stock, said Cramer. A company taking on its unions, such as Boeing, is one.”
Cramer predicts that Boeing is “going to win in its ‘historic confrontation’ with its union,” TheStreet.com added.
The Billings Gazette, of all newspapers, took a long hard look at the IAM strike in Wednesday’s edition. http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/09/07/build/business/56-boeing.inc The Gazette’s a good newspaper, about the size of The Herald, but I happen to know they don’t have an aerospace writer. I suspect they got this column from their corporate cousins at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In any case …
Key Quote: “AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said, ‘It is outrageous that this profitable company refuses to meet the most basic needs of its workers, while awarding millions of dollars in unrestricted stock to its executives.’ “
Key Quote 2: “Boeing, however, said it can’t agree to the union’s demand for a monthly pension benefit of $80 for each year of service. … The difference between the current level and the top-line demand of the union could cost Boeing about $1.2 billion more in the next 30 years, said James Turpin, an actuarial consultant and a former vice president of the American Academy of Actuaries.”
Wish I’d thought of having an accountant run the numbers on that.
And Reuters reported from New York http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2005-09-06-boeing-usat_x.htm that Airbus won’t be able to take advantage of this strike to poach Boeing orders unless the strike runs 90 days or more (which sounds like something I wrote a couple days ago).
Key Quote: “‘I would guess you’re not going to see a lot of folks announce orders during this period for Boeing products,’ said Cai Von Rumohr, an analyst at SG Cowen. But … ‘Are people really going to switch to Airbus? I don’t think so.’”
Here’s my column on the strike from today’s paper http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/09/07/100bus_corliss001.cfm
Key Quote: “The IAM strike against Boeing could become a rallying point for the whole American labor movement, Aboulafia continued. Labor holds a lot of high cards in this poker game … If other unions throw their support behind the IAM, funneling them cash and other aid, that would enable the union to stay out longer, he said. ‘You can make an argument for them doing that because this is the last place they can do that.’ “
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