Fewer Boeing Machinists union members are striking now than during the last strike in 1995, though that’s because, with the sale of Boeing’s commercial division earlier this year, there are fewer Boeing employees. But the economic impact of the strike could still be costly, especially if it lasts very long. Already, Spirit AeroSystems has gone to a three-day workweek for most employees. Other local suppliers also may cut back. A long strike hurts everyone. Boeing and the union need to redouble their efforts to reach a labor agreement soon.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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20 Comments
I have been trying to figure out who will hire me for two days a week. Just another demonstration of bad management with the Spirit company. They made it sound as if new work from other corporations were beating down the door before the sale. Now, since we only supply to Boeing, once again we get dragged through a strike. Happy Thanksgiving.
Just goes to show you who selfish Union workers are. They don’t care what effects they are having to their other union brothers and sisters.
Hooray for the brave Boeing machinists. They are doing a service to all workers……even those so envious of union won wages and rights that they attack their fellow worker while saying “please boss? be nice to me.”
Boeing is up against the wall and the union knows it. Airbus is kicking Boeings ass. “Spirit” AKA sellout is gonna get their ass kicked in this too.
If it hurts Wichita, I say so what? I’ve yet to ever find a NON union employer here that I would lend my services to. It is about time for workers to say loud and proud, “Treat me fair, pay me fair…….or I will not work for you or any like you”
SPEEA gets itself re-certified and then promptly gives the IAM strike fund $5000. They are supporting the very strike that is adversly affecting all SPIRIT workers in Wichita. I think it is time to ask “Just WHO do You Represent SPEEA?”.It’s time for all of Wichita to DEMAND that the greedy machinists go back to work. Greed is not good.. especially when it is harming MY family. GET BACK TO WORK……. Please!
According to law, Workers have a right to organize and bargain collectively. There’s striength in numbers. Those of you who bitch about the unions need to remember the benefits you have because of unions. Don’t turn on your fellow workers…your problem is with management. If the unions die off, you can kiss reasonable pay and benefits goodby. Unions are there to represent and protect the worker. Without representation, who protects your rights? Oh, I forgot…without a contract, you don’t have any rights in the workplace.
Unions have outlived their usefulness… they are nothing but a burden on the professional work force. There should be laws protecting me from being FORCED to be represented against my will. Where is MY freedom to choose?
As you would so happily tell a union employee, if you don’t like what you have, you have the FREEDOM to CHOSE another job. Yeah baby, how does it feel?
I was happy with this job LONG before the union started messing it up! Only good thing is that this strike is going to convince everyone that unions are for the birds. At least I still have SOME pay and benefits. I’m thinking it might be fun on my days off to go down and Picket the Picketers… except I can’t bring myself down to their level of acting like an idiot!
Soon as they kill off the union, you’ll have even less pay and benefits.
“I’m thinking it might be fun on my days off to go down and Picket the Picketers…”
Oh pul-eeze! Sam, you be sure and go mess with the Pickets. Go tell them just how you feel! I’m sure they’ll have an appropriate answer for you. On the other hand, I doubt if you have the guts for a face to face….not exactly your style.
“I can’t bring myself down to their level of acting like an idiot!”
Oops, too late, you’re already there!
Unless you’re in management, slamming the union is like biting the hand that feeds you.
Or maybe you’re just a management lackey.
I got ya pegged Kansassam. You are a mid manager. Your emotion in your posts suggests that you are a Boeing or Spirit mid manager. Your talk of picketing the picketers on your “days off” suggests that you are a Spirit mid manager who will be faced with (shudder) days off due to the “greed” of members of the machinist union. Your adjacent rail against SPEEA only further re-affirms this.
Oh I know you Kanasassam. I met your type so many times. You don’t want a union for what you do. Equal representation for mid managers like you means kissing your supervisors ass aint gonna get you any more than a whiff of what they had for breakfast! And so much worse yet! If those unfortunate enough to be supervised by YOU have a union, you not only aint gonna be able to f… them over, they may well have the right in their solidarity to tell you with a loud voice to go f… yourself! What a dilemna for you! Can’t lick A.. so you can kick A… Gotta be frustrating!
JR..You and XXX are clueless as to who I am. I am just a hard working Spirit employee that can speak for myself. I really feel sorry fo you dudes that have so little confidence that you need someone else to do your talking! I rest on my performance, reliablity and positive attitude to show management who I am. I don’t need anyone else, except God.Yes.. the IAM has done well for you in the past, but when you are at the top in pay and benefits, you only hurt your co-workers and your community when you demand even more!I will be fine.. I will find a way to provide for my family… as for the strikers, they will NEVER recover what they have given up, and they have LOST the support of the community.So… I gotta go to work, so I can’t have a nice chat with you, but I can say .. you guys give up your fantasy.. you definately don’t know me! And try thinking of someone besides yourselves for a change.
“And try thinking of someone besides yourselves for a change.”
Now Sam, that’s about as stupid a thing as I’ve heard in a long time. Union brothers and sisters band together for the advancement of all, and you say, “think of someone besides yourselves for a change”. Who should union members consider? You? Or those like you who would stab them in the back for your own advancement, even if it was at the expense of everybody else?I say again, Sam, if you aren’t happy with the working conditions, find another place to work. I’m sure someone will be glad to hire you at minimum wage somewhere. That shouldn’t bother you since you’re prepared to bow and scrape for the corporate masters.
Sam, I don’t work in aircraft, never have. I’m not a union member, I’m one of the dreaded mid-level managers. But I came up through the Trades, and I say without hesitation, Go Union!
And I say again.. I will NEVER fret for a job because I am great at what I do! I don’t need unions using me to line their pockets and I don’t live off the blood of others! The union leadership eats up conservatively 50% or more of the dues in salary!! By the time you add up training, travel and postage, you got over 90%. No Charity or company would survive with that much cost of doing business!!If you think unions are so great at banding together.. let’s change the contract so that only those that CHOOSE to be are represented and pay dues. Then you will only have happy members in the ranks and the rest of us will be happy as well!! And, if you are right (and you are not) the Company would be happy too because they can pay all us non-represented minimum wage with no benefits!! LOL!!!Oh.. by the way.. the Company has deemed me important enough to work a full 5 day schedule…. but I am still taking days off because it’s the right thing to do for my co-workers.Remember, thinking of others is not stupid.. it’s Christlike.
Sam, let’s see some proof of your figures. 90%? Yeah, right!
“Oh.. by the way.. the Company has deemed me important enough to work a full 5 day schedule…. but I am still taking days off because it’s the right thing to do for my co-workers.”
Pretty full of yourself, huh?
“Remember, thinking of others is not stupid.. it’s Christlike.”
Sounds like a good reason to be a union member.
XXX is a mid manager? We need more mid managers like XXX.
Kanasassam? Lotsa brave noise you make. You are an ass kisser and a back stabber. Now I must give you credit here. That is sadly what America is all about now. I got little reason to support your version of America. I got even less reason to teach my kid to love respect or let alone fight for it. And I am far from alone.
Good news is we aint all like you fella. I was union from the day I was hired at Raytheon Aircraft. I fought for my fellow workers during my entire time there. People like you Kanassam I treated with open contempt. (As I said previously, I do know your type) Though it has been a hardship, I ultimately told an increasingly onerous management where to get off. I quit before they could fire me.
You got yourself something of a problem Kansassam. Who you gonna kick around for the amusement of your boss when all the workers get fed up? I do not think that your ability to schmooze your supervisor is gonna get any planes built. I also doubt that you or your supervisor can build those planes. One thing to think about before I go on? AIRBUS
Now I’m outside of aviation these days Kansassam. I do not plan on going back so don’t count on folks displaced by other unfair employers to fill the ranks at Boeing. I’m happier out here, agitating as I always have for worker rights.
Word to the wise SAM? Get off your ass and support your union and the machinists. The “respect” that you have earned from your managers aint gonna feed you.
JR..I treat everyone with respect, not contempt.. unfortunately the union mentality is more like yours.. hateful! I am too busy supporting my churches, charities, and the underprivileged to support the greed of the strikers. After all, they already get more than anyone else in the region.. why on earth do they need more?Look at the headlines… every day you see more and more folks from other companies and charities and families that are bearing the burden of their greed! No.. I will NOT support that!
XXX..As for the 90%… SPEEA sent out a newsletter to ALL represented people and it showed their balance sheet right there in black and white. They spent less than 3% on negotiating and the rest on other things…. ask them for a copy and do the math!No.. I am far from full of myself.. I leave that to the union boys who would let others suffer to line their own pockets.
Having said that.. I will pray that they get back to work soon, because their families are suffering too; not to mention for their safety because there are idiots out there like the dude that shot off the gun across the street from them. I would truly hate to see someone get hurt, and the longer it goes, the more stressed people are going to become! Say what you want about me, but everyone out there… be sure our homeless friends are fed and kept warm as the days grow colder, it could mean life or death for them.
JR, I spent 30 years in the Trades before I got promoted to management and I did a stint organizing for the Union. I’ve been on the front lines. I’m very fortunate. All the managers in my department came up through the ranks and some of us are still up to date on our cards. Day to day, I deal with a lot of contractors and all of my contractors are union employers. I know with union Tradesmen, I get the best help available. I’ve never worked in aircraft, but I’m very familiar with the Machinists Union. Don’t have a lot of experience with amalgamated unions…I’ve always been with in-house. But as they say, any union is better than no union.
My friend, it really frosts me when I read the anti-union crap in the paper. I hate the way people in Wichita kicked union members when they were down.
Greed???? Union Greed Kansassam?
You are a member of SPEEA ( I got that much) You can do math.
In the past 10 years worker compensation is in the negative vs. inflaton. Meanwhile CEO comensation has increased by 5000%. What the strike is hard for you? Furlough is hard for you? People DIED for labor rights…. I gave up my livelihood for labor rights. Those rights trickled UP to people like you. You got yours with no personal cost. Now that yours stand up WITHOUT you to try and join the fight, you wanna flee the scene. “I support charities, I help through my church”.That makes it ok for you I guess. Just write a check and play the game. What a hero you are!
XXX you are right about this community kicking unions when they are down. Deal is it is jealousy. “Damn greedy union memebers!” “How dare they demand fair wages and treatment?! Them presumptious greedy bastards! I eat dirt 16 hours a day and I’m thankful to eat that dirt! they oughtta be eating it too!”
I just love you guys.. you are so kind and compassionate.. it’s not about being a hero.. it’s about doing what’s right!This would not be a problem if it were about fair wages and treatment, but this is about “I have the best, but I want more, no matter who I have to walk on to get it”.I am SPEEA represented… much to my dismay. SPEEA is pretty harmless, they have very little base, no power, and they don’t spend enough on negotiations to accomplish anything. But they did give $5000 to the IAM to support a strike which is costing their own members time off of their jobs!!
I just want it to be over
Gee whiz! You guys should put on some boxing gloves! LOL! The only thing I can say is greed defines EVERYONE! From corporate bonuses to the minimum wage worker, everybody likes and wants money. Just a fact. I will step away from the arguement now. Don’t be too hard on each other. This is America, for now.