What’s next for strikers
Published 9:00 pm Monday, September 26, 2005
UNION VOTING
Machinists will vote between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday at five locations throughout the Puget Sound region, including the Everett union hall at 8729 Airport Road. The results will be announced Thursday night.
MAJORITY RULES
It will be a yes-or-no vote on the contract, with only a simple majority needed to pass. On Sept. 1, Machinists cast two ballots: one on the contract and one on whether to strike. Union rules required a two-thirds majority vote to reject the contract and authorize the strike. In 2002, a majority rejected Boeing’s contract offer, but only 62 percent favored a strike, so the contract was accepted by default. This time, 86 percent of Machinists voted against the contract and for a strike, leading to the walkout.
BACK TO WORK
If Machinists ratify the contract Thursday, third-shift workers will start reporting to work before midnight. Workers on other shifts will go back on Friday. Workers who have taken other jobs during the strike will have until Oct. 12 to return to Boeing.
BONUSES BY CHRISTMAS
If they ratify the contract, Machinists will receive 8 percent bonus checks within 60 days. The bonuses will be based on each workers’ earnings over the past year, including overtime. The average Machinist makes about $59,000 a year, which would make their bonus worth $4,750.
INFLATION RAISE
If they approve the contract, Machinists will receive a 12-cent cost-of-living raise that was negotiated under the 2002 contract and was due to them on Sept. 2.
TOP ISSUES
The union’s top two issues going into the talks this summer were pensions and health care. The new offer increases the pension multiplier to $70 a month, per year of service. The current contract pays $60; Boeing initially proposed raising that to $66. On health care, Boeing’s first contract offer would have cost each Machinist between $2,000 and $4,000 more per year in new premiums and co-payments, the union said. The new offer extends the health care package from the 2002 contract, at no additional cost.
PAY AND BENEFITS
Boeing’s new contract proposal includes 8 percent signing bonuses and $3,000 lump-sum payments in the second and third years of the contract, keeps the retiree medical program, made changes in work rules in line with union proposals and did away with proposals for separate pay and benefits for Wichita, Kan., Machinists.
NOT INCLUDED
The proposal does not include some elements of the first contract offer – primarily, it eliminates a proposal for bonuses that would have paid workers the equivalent of five to 15 extra day’s pay, linked to Boeing’s financial performance. It also does away with a planned 2.5 percent general wage increase scheduled for the third year of the contract.
SECOND SHORTEST
If Machinists approve the contract and return to work Friday, the strike will have lasted 28 days, the second shortest of the union’s six strikes against the company.
STRIKE CHECKS
The union also will issue $150 strike benefit checks, covering this week, on Saturday. The checks will be distributed at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe and two other Puget Sound locations.
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