We got what we wanted, striking Machinists say

EVERETT – Striking Machinist Sambo Seng had found a part-time job to tide her through what she expected would be a long strike against the Boeing Co.

Monday was to have been her first day working as a hair stylist.

But on Sunday, Boeing and the union announced they’d come to terms on a proposed contract. So on Monday, Seng called to turn down the job offer, then showed up outside Boeing’s Everett factory for one last turn on the picket line.

“I thought that we were going to go at least 90 days,” the Lynnwood woman said. But now, “I’ll take another week and go back.”

Seng seemed to reflect the mood of other strikers Monday afternoon: surprised that Boeing had agreed to so many of the union’s terms so quickly and mostly ready to accept the company’s new contract offer and return to work.

“There’s always some room for improvement,” said Thomas Flowers, a quality inspector from Everett and also a union steward. “But I think the membership will accept it.”

Machinists will vote Thursday on Boeing’s revised contract offer. Union leaders are urging members to approve the proposal. If they do, third-shift workers would report to work about 10:30 Thursday night.

Individual Machinists spent much of Monday studying the contract proposal.

Not all were impressed with it. Mitch Huffman of Marysville noted that it didn’t offer any general wage increases. There will be cost-of-living adjustments tied to inflation rates. But with so many costs skyrocketing, Machinists’ earning power will erode, he said.

“I’m not looking for a huge pay raise,” he said. “I’d like to maintain my buying power.”

However, most seemed inclined to accept the offer.

“This one’s better,” said Gary Johnson of Mill Creek. “Sure, I’ll take the retirement pay and no take-aways on health care.”

Seng agreed, saying Boeing’s pension and health care proposals were better with the new offer. “That’s what we’re asking for and that’s what we got.”

The Machinists walked out Sept. 2 after 86 percent rejected a Boeing contract proposal that members said didn’t meet their top demands for better pensions and health-care benefits.

After weeks of arguing it couldn’t afford pension increases, Boeing “changed their position quite a bit,” particularly on pensions, Johnson said. “I was surprised.”

He said he had been prepared to “dig in” for a strike lasting into next year. Huffman said he anticipated at least a 45-day walkout. Both said they were surprised Boeing made a new offer so quickly.

Union district president Mark Blondin said Boeing approached him about a week ago to see whether he was willing to resume contract talks. “Obviously,” Blondin said. “We said we’d meet anytime, any place.”

The time and place ended up being in Washington, D.C., Friday, in the offices of former Missouri Congressman Dick Gephardt, now a consultant to the law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.

Boeing hired Gephardt, long seen as a friend of the Machinists union, to consult on the talks. Blondin said the union team met with Gephardt before the meeting with Boeing’s representatives.

“We told him that our members are strong, unified,” Blondin said. “He knew the story; 86 percent said no.”

Gephardt seemed to have an influence on the thinking of Boeing executives, Blondin said.

“I don’t know what was being said between him and them, but they obviously came a long ways from where they were four weeks ago,” Blondin said. “This was a situation where the company had to make a lot of movement to get a recommendation from the union … I’ve got to believe that Gephardt was counseling the company team to do the right thing.”

On the picket line Monday, Flowers said he wasn’t surprised that Boeing moved relatively quickly to end the strike.

“We were just beginning to put Airbus under the fence,” he said. “Orders were coming in. Production was picking up. Why would you want to halt that?”

Seng said that for her, the big difference was Boeing’s decision not to pass on increased health care costs. The union said Boeing’s first contract would have cost individuals between $2,000 and $4,000 in extra premiums and co-payments.

She said she plans to vote for the contract. “I think we’re going to go back, too.”

Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.