Area Strikers Labor To Make Ends Meet Dairy, Boeing Workers Must Scrounge While Others Splurge On Holiday Season

(From For the Record, Monday, December 4, 1995:) A story Sunday should have said each teamster on strike against Broadview Dairy receives $55 a week from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and at least $100 a week from Teamsters Local No. 582.

More than 300 striking union workers at two Spokane factories are spending their holidays on picket lines instead of in shopping malls.

The strikes at The Boeing Co. plant in Airway Heights and the Broadview Dairy downtown are forcing union members to use creative measures to stretch their savings at a time when many families are splurging.

Deer hunting is popular; eating out is not.

Some have taken temporary jobs; others have taken out loans.

Some are selling their belongings and crafting hand-made Christmas gifts, while a few have found permanent jobs elsewhere or retired.

“We don’t go out to eat anymore, we don’t go to the movies,” said Jeff Bartholomew, an Elk, Wash., member of the striking International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. “It makes you rearrange your priorities to get things in line with where they should have been all along.”

Financial advisers say it’s imperative that striking workers, or anyone else short of cash at Christmas, take steps to reduce the urge to spend.

“The holidays are a stressful time to go through this,” said Mark Harnishfeger, director of Consumer Credit Counseling of Spokane.

“The checks have stopped and they don’t have any cash to do anything with. I’m not sure how they’re making it.”

More than 32,000 Boeing Machinists walked off the job Oct. 6 in a dispute over increasing cost of medical benefits and reduced job security. The strike is the longest against the company since 1948 and the first to affect the 293 Machinists who work at Boeing’s 6-year-old plant west of Spokane.

Teamsters Local No. 582 struck Broadview Dairy Nov. 1 when workers were asked to take a pay cut and accept elimination of pension fund contributions to help curtail losses at the bottling plant.

To bolster morale and members’ pocketbooks, the unions are providing strike pay, free food and financial counseling. On Dec. 11, members of both unions will throw a combined Christmas party.

The Machinists union is giving $100 a week strike pay; the Teamsters Local, $47. On the job, Boeing Machinist average $800 a week; Broadview Teamsters, $600.

Striking workers are doing a lot of things they’ve never done before to make it through the holidays.

Paul Polignoni, a Boeing bench mechanic in the plaster department, said he curtailed his spending habits by taking a long deer hunting trip.

“That way we’re not spending any money, just walking around in the woods trying to put some meat in the freezer,” said Polignoni, who came home empty-handed.

Polignoni, 36, said he’s received money from relatives, and his wife works part-time as a flagger for a construction crew. Their children receive free breakfast and lunch at school.

Harry Lloyd, risk management manager for the Boeing Employees Credit Union in Tukwila, Wash., said many members have sought financial advice or emergency loans. He advises them to buy only essentials and avoid credit cards.

“You can’t borrow your way out of debt,” said Lloyd, whose membership includes 20,000 striking Machinists. “Get a canister, fill it with water, drop your credit cards in and put it in the freezer. That’s what we mean by freezing your spending.”

Lloyd said most creditors will agree to defer, or reduce, payments once notified of a financial hardship. The key, however, is that pickets must communicate with lenders before their bills become overdue.

Workers also can turn skills into income, Lloyd said. Boeing workers laid off in the past sold paintings and photographs, repaired bicycles and gave piano lessons to earn extra income, he said.

Russell Dionne, a Valley Machinist who spent five years building molded consoles for the cockpit of Boeing jets, is trying hard to survive the strike without exhausting a fund he had set aside for home repairs.

He’s hustled for temporary jobs such as stocking shelves at the HomeBase hardware store and operating injection molding machines at Altek Inc. He turned down a job at Kmart two weeks ago when it appeared that union leaders and the company had agreed on a new contract. But union members rejected the deal.

“Our family decided that none of the adults would buy gifts for each other,” said Dionne, sole provider for his family of five. “We’ll just get gifts for the kids.”

Tim Robertson, a divorced dad with four children, said he is financially strapped and frustrated by the strike. He’s worked odd jobs for gas money and sold a motorcycle to help buy food. Last week, the 45-year-old said he asked Boeing for help to cross the picket line and go back to work.

“I have no savings and I was not prepared for this,” he said. “I’m sinking deeper and deeper.”

Some Boeing workers are optimistic that a settlement will be reached before Christmas. Many pin their hopes on a pair of hearings this month regarding Boeing’s alleged unfair labor practices. A ruling in their favor, union officials said, could produce $350 a week or more for each Machinist.

The situation is more grave at Broadview Dairy, where nearly half the original 47 striking Teamsters have crossed the picket line, found new jobs or retired.

But for some union workers, the strikes are an opportunity to spread holiday cheer.

Spokane Machinist Darren VanOrman said he’s been helping neighbors install drywall and clean garages. He’s taken time to visit his children’s school and operates a vanpool for workers who need help getting to the picket line.

“It’s all worth it,” VanOrman said. “We really have a lot to be thankful for.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Saving money during the holidays Whether you’re on strike, laidoff or just looking to save money, the Boeing Employees Credit Union and Consumer Credit Counseling of Spokane offer these tips for surviving the holidays: Food. List essentials, match them with available discount coupons and estimate how much money you will need. Bring only that much cash to the supermarket. Shop the perimeter of the supermarket, where staples typically are found, avoiding expensive luxury items at the center of the store. Restaurants, shopping malls and credit cards. This is a quick way to sink into debt with impulse buying. Stay away from them! Debts. Contact landlord, banks and other lenders immediately to explain your situation. Ask for a temporary reduction or deferral of payments. Home. Turn off lights and disconnect cable TV. Run dishwasher and clothes dryer only when filled. Keep thermostat at a constant 68 degrees. Gifts. Gather family to explain the budget, getting them involved in ways to cut costs. Be creative. Make or bake something by hand; offer housecleaning, baby-sitting or repair work as a gift. Money. Turn a hobby or craft into extra income. Find a parttime or temporary job. Grayden Jones