USA Boeing professional go on strike China Congress calls for national oil reserve

By Elizabeth Yates

On March 1 Boeing declared negotiations at an impasse and said it may try to impose a labor agreement. The union, however, said it is much too early to declare such and claimed Boeing wasn't negotiating in good faith.

In the biggest white collar strike in U.S. history, around 20,000 Boeing engineers and technicians in the Seattle area - close to 90 percent of union-represented employees - have held their lines strong since Feb. 9 despite rain and cold. They are members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).
After two weeks of no movement in bargaining, the two sides were back at the table Feb. 24 with federal mediator,
C. Richard Barnes.
More than 2,500 strikers were joined by members of other labor unions and supporters Feb. 23, in an impressive show of solidarity. Representatives of about a dozen unions, families, friends and political supporters gathered at the headquarters of the Machinists Union (IAM) District 751 to march to Boeing headquarters.
IAM President Bill Johnson congratulated SPEEA members for "taking on the Boeing Company. You can be very proud of what you are accomplishing," he said. "You'll get the contract you want."
Among other union members joining SPEEA were steelworkers, longshoremen, teamsters, service employees, musicians, transportation workers, mail handlers, and the International Federation of Professional Technicians and Engineers.
These engineers and technical workers, rejected two contract offers before striking. Each offer contained benefit takeaways, pools of money that keep technical workers below market level wages and lacked a bonus. They are seeking "a fair contract that has no benefit takeaways, more guaranteed money, protection for the weekends, a bonus, and a bargaining unit vote on an agency fee," according to a recent press release.
The union has also filed several unfair labor charges with the National Labor Relations Board.
"No one is more concerned about this company than the people who work there," said Charles
Bofferding, SPEEA executive director.
Pickets have been rotating on three-hour shifts at 70 sites in Everett, Seattle, Renton, Auburn, Kent and Portland, around the clock at many sites. One night, a picket told the World, 42 strikers signed up for the 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift at one gate.
People staying at a trailer park in Kent complained they couldn't sleep at night due to all the trucks honking their horns in support of the pickets. Many children have come with their parents to walk.
Such a display of striker resolve and labor and community solidarity has seldom been surpassed. Management actions, such as intimidating letters, videotaping workers on the job or engaged in union activity and other bullying tactics infuriated some who had not initially supported the strike.
"As far as we can determine, there are more people out now than at first," Pat Waters, Chairman of the SPEEA council, told the World at the two-week point. When the strike began, about 5,000 of the strikers did not pay dues to the union. But, on an almost daily basis, strikers have been coming in to the headquarters to sign membership cards. About 64 percent of represented workers are now members, compared to 42 percent in August.
"As white collar workers, we haven't been shown respect," Waters said. "This is a very popular strike because it's not so much the economic issues. It has to do with the way we're treated."
As SPEEA workers left their desks Feb. 9 at 9 a.m., factory workers stood in the aisles and cheered, secretaries stood at work stations and other non-union workers applauded.
SPEEA leaders have been working closely with the AFL-CIO Strategic Approaches Committee. They joined the national federation last October. Union Network International, which represents 900 unions in 140 countries and is headquartered
in Europe, wrote to Boeing management urging them to get back to the bargaining table. Numerous other unions have joined picketlines.
"It really helps the morale of workers on the line when they know that our message is getting out," Kenneth Yata, an engineer, told the World.
Support has grown daily. A daily bulletin of "Success Stories" reports scores of incidents of support from within and without the company.
Inside the plant, department after department sit idle, or only partially working. Planes are reported stacking up. Parts are piling up. Without technicians and engineers, many tasks cannot be completed or undertaken, and planes can't be certified ready for delivery.
Boeing has missed at least a dozen deliveries, according to union sources. Other repairs, such as an elevator that broke down, couldn't be completed because repair people would not cross the picket line. The company was even having trouble finding replacement workers willing to cross the line.
Company CEO's acted blasé at first, thinking the strikers would quickly fold, but after two weeks, as one office administrator reported, "Boeing says business is as usual, but there is no business - just havoc."
Work with airlines has been interrupted because the people they normally deal with are not there. Mechanics also have refused to do any SPEEA work. Frustration is growing among managers, many of whom are offering support.
One IAM guy who walked the line for awhile commented on leaving, "Man, you guys are really showing us how to do it."
Because truckers would not cross the line, Boeing attempted to establish delivery locations away from the plant. Pickets immediately showed up there. Donations to the strike relief fund poured in.
By the end of the second week, it had reached $112,000. More than 100 local businesses and individuals have donated food, money, time on the line, discounted or deferred payments on loans, mortgages, and utilities. Boeing stock has dropped 22 percent since the walkout began.
"We didn't know how strong we were," Bill Holt, engineer, told the World, "until we actually all
walked out ... and we stayed out."