I’ve been a Boeing employee for almost 19 years. The very reason I went to work for Boeing was because of the good wages and benefits. The reason we have these good wages and benefits is because of the very fight we are experiencing at the present and fights in the past by our brothers and sisters before us. Fighting corporate greed. Fighting takeaways. In other words fighting “Republican economics.”
“Republican economics” browbeats labor for the sake of greed. We strikers on the picket lines are experiencing mostly positive response from drivers, but to those that are flipping us off and showing thumbs down don’t have a clue what we’re fighting for. All they read in the press is the thousands we’re turning down. That was just a dangling carrot for the 4,000-plus employees who were recently recalled from layoff. Boeing was counting on them grabbing this carrot. It didn’t work. My heart goes out to them for doing the right thing and voting a solid no way on the company’s “best and final contract proposal.”
What the public didn’t see was how this “best and final contract proposal” was laced with takeaways. This contract isn’t about money. It’s about fighting corporate greed. The company did not address the main issues: Pensions and health insurance. They added a miniscule amount to the pension fund and massive takeaways in health insurance and in many other areas. Pensions are obviously important to corporate as well. After all, our new CEO James McNerney received a $22 million pension package on top of his $1.4 million base salary. It’s time for labor to take a stand and fight “Republican economics.”
Mike Morehouse
Lake Stevens
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