Boeing machinists accept 777X contract proposal (51% for)

[Newsjock]

Source: KOMO

SEATTLE -- It wasn't a landslide, but Boeing machinists voted Friday night to accept a contract proposal that exchanges concessions for decades of secure jobs.

The machinists accepted the proposal with 51 percent of the votes.

... With the "yes" vote, Boeing guarantees that jobs building its new 777X will stay in the region.

Local union leaders urged members to vote "no," saying the offer included too many concessions, such as a plan to move workers away from traditional pension plans.


Read more: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Boeing-machinists-accept-777X-contract-proposal-238684191.html

[regnaD kciN]

3. Not for this project...

The "infrastructure" will simply be part of the current Everett plant, which would have been half-empty had the union rejected the contract and the work gone out-of-state.

The only "decades of secure jobs" will be for the top executives' financial advisors, as their clients will, no doubt, be each getting an additional tens of millions worth of bonuses as a reward for breaking the union.

[regnaD kciN]

2. "Decades of secure jobs" = 11 years

And the "secure jobs" will be little better than non-unionized jobs elsewhere. One of the last bulwarks of strong union labor contracts has been crushed. It'll all be about the "race to the bottom" from now on.

[alp227]

4. Longer Seattle Times article

Machinists say yes, secure 777X for Everett

[freshwest]

6. Thanks for the further information, some of which I'd already heard. Huge news in WA. n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

5. K&R for union support

This kind of negotiation is what collective bargaining is about.
No, it's not a gift to the union, but progress was made. Kudos to the negotiators.

[jtuck004]

8. Seems it resembled more a hostage release situation than a negotiation. And the hostage taker gets

to keep the gun and the money.

[seattledo]

7. Sad to see them cave-in like this.

I thought they would have fought instead. A lot of people here are disappointed.

[secondvariety]

9. I'll bet

that Boeing would have moved production if it hadn't gone their way. It's bad enough trying to compete with Mexico and China, now the competition is coming from within.

Sad state of affairs for working Americans.

[BlueEye]

17. Yes, they weren't bluffing unfortunately.

Boeing was already well into the bidding process with a number of southern states. They already have a plant in Charleston, SC.

It is a hard pill to swallow for these workers and a testament to how awful Right to Work (for less) is. But the Union made the right choice. It was definitely a hostage situation, and this proverbial hostage taker (Boeing) has already shown they're willing to shoot hostages.

[SkatmanRoth]

10. The capitalists forestall the workers revolution for another short period of time

The wealthy prosper while the people producing the products watch their standard of living being reduced. Boeing has it contained for the moment, but pike poles and torches at the gates are in the future if we continue on this path.

[seabeckind]

11. Sad day that it has come to this

that Boeing uses extortion and plays one state against the other to further their profits.

How much in the way of taxpayer money from all over the state of Washington was involved? I had heard that the concessions for Indiana was over a billion. And the promise of no union at all.

Sad day.

Maybe it is time to put that state's rights bullshit to bed forever. Make a level playing field between states so that it is united. Forced Boeing to become a foreign company in name in match their attitude. And then tax them accordingly.

So question: what prevents any state from declaring eminent domain over a plant (wouldn't that be abandoned property?), like the one Boeing has that they won't be paying taxes on (which means they get free infrastructure), and make HSR equipment? Use the tax concession to pay off the extortionists and get rid of them, then turn it into an employee-owned business?

In fact, why couldn't that be a function of the federal gov't? I thought that was the whole idea of the ONE, out of many.

Oh, never mind...just gets me ... frustrated to see my country come to this.

[pipoman]

12. Boeing wichita

Is the model union members have to look at in this negotiation...wichita v. China didn't turn out so well. .

[Omaha Steve]

18. China screwed up

On engineering and manufacturing. A lot of work came back to the USA: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/01/17/the-boeing-debacle-seven-lessons-every-ceo-must-learn/

[PSPS]

13. How much in the way of taxpayer money? $9 billion

It's the largest plundering of any state's treasury in history.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/10/us-usa-boeing-assembly-idUSBRE9A80FB20131110

[yurbud]

19. there should be a law against that--or at least a ban on getting government contracts for companies

that do it.

[PSPS]

14. $9 billion in WA taxpayer money + eviscerate union benefits = champagne & caviar in Chicago

With no income tax (that's why the parasite class like Gates and Allen like to live here,) Washington's only sources of tax revenue are sales and B&O (business) taxes. And Boeing already avoids both of those by "delivering" its planes over the ocean.

Now, the taxpayers of Washington will be paying Boeing over $450,000 for every job "saved." What a racket.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

15. Now that the company

has driven a real wedge into the union they will work on splitting it, thus proving the old military maxim of 'divide and conquer'
If you are a supplier or vendor to Boeing expect to have concessions demanded of you too...........

[Populist_Prole]

16. They'll be back again for more. Of that you can be sure

I mean, to actually want to re-open an existing contract to make it concessionary. Wow. Since the race to the bottom is already in free-fall, it won't be long before even the red state scab operations they threatened to move to ( and have already moved the 787 line to ) will become "uncompetitive" again.