Only execs deserve to negotiate pay?

A few days ago, either in The Herald or Times (sorry!) I read a quote from the current Boeing CEO that really ticked me off.

I didn’t save it but it went something like this: “To secure company stability in the Northwest, Boeing can’t afford slowdowns because of collective bargaining and possible strikes demanding wage and benefit increases.” OK, OK, not a direct quote, and perhaps overdone, but the context is there.

That was a statement rolling off the silver-tongue of a person who has a annual salary of nearly $2 million a year plus a really, really big bonus! His sidekicks (CFO) James Bell, Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh and hordes (yes, hordes — really!) of other Boeing executives take home just under $1 million each, plus heavenly bonuses and, only God truly knows — the other benefits these and a hundred or so other Boeing executives receive.

Am I jealous? I guess in a way I am. As first-line supervisors, as others in that position know, we along with the hourly and salaried support people accomplished all jobs relative to maintenance and production, allowing the fat cats in the executive area (many of whom know nothing about plane construction) to get those huge salaries and over-the-top bonuses.

Yes, I know “that is just the way it is” in corporate America — and I don’t give a rat’s you-know-what if the executives get rich. Just allow us — the many “one-man-bands” doing the actual supervision and the employees on the floor, who actually build the airplanes (and make sure they fly!), to get an adequate share as well. Is that bargaining for too much?

Ron Kleinman

Mountlake Terrace

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