Striking Machinists Dig In For Long Battle
Confident union Machinists in Spokane said Friday that they’re willing to face cold mornings and empty bank accounts “for as long as it takes” to win job security and health benefits from The Boeing Co.
“People are more disgusted about Boeing’s arrogance than I’ve ever seen,” picket captain Todd Silva said on the first day of a strike that was overwhelmingly backed by local members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. “We’re going to take this all the way.”
Boeing spokeswoman Diane Ressler in Spokane said the company was disappointed that the Machinists chose to strike. She said the company’s contract was a fair offer.
No talks were scheduled.
Shivering on a cloud-covered, 40-degree morning, more than 50 pickets gathered at 6:30 a.m. Friday outside the West Plains plant off Highway 2.
Some had children, others brought lawn chairs. Donuts and coffee were welcomed, but rare, as pickets stamped their feet and took swift walks or rode bicycles to keep warm in the early hours.
Machinists said they were upset by Boeing’s proposal to force them to pay health insurance premiums for the first time and higher medical insurance deductibles. In addition, they want limits on the company’s ability to move operations to Mexico and other less expensive labor markets.
Boeing has refused to negotiate on the so-called outsourcing of work, saying it is a management prerogative.
By a 90 percent margin - 247 to 28 - members of Local 86 Machinists Thursday rejected Boeing’s contract and agreed to strike. The Local represents 293 Machinists at Boeing’s parts fabrication plant in Spokane.
“People think we’re all rich because we work for Boeing,” said Arlene Lumper, a plastic bench mechanic who joined the factory when it opened in 1990. “We need these jobs for us and for our kids after us.”
Unions representing about 32,000 Boeing production-line workers in three states are on strike. Workers set up picket lines at Boeing plants in the Seattle area, Wichita, Kan., and Gresham, Ore., near Portland.
Boeing’s three-year contract offer included a lump-sum payment of 5 percent of annual pay in 1995, a 3 percent cash payment in 1996, and a 3 percent wage increase in 1997. The union wanted wage increases and lump-sum payments in all three years, but had not specified amounts.
Boeing said pay for production workers now averages $20.37 an hour, and would average $22.16 at the end of the contract it has offered, bringing the average annual salary to $46,000.
Average pay in Spokane is slightly lower because of differences in job classifications and less overall experience, Ressler said.
Spokane County Sheriff’s office reported no strike-related incidents Friday.
Workers said the last truckloads of floor panels and air ducts they produced left the plant Friday.
“You can’t just pull people off the streets to do what we do,” said Jim Oakes, a utility mechanic who supports a family of five in Cheney.
Ressler said Boeing has no plans at this time to hire replacement workers. Managers and other non-union workers are attempting to operate the production lines.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Grayden Jones staff writer The Associated Press contributed to this report.