Boeing workers prepare to strike as deadline nears
Bill Rig And Laura MyersNEW YORK/EVERETT, Washington (Reuters) - BoeingCo's machinists prepared for a strike Friday as theplane-maker and its largest union tried to hammer out alast-ditch deal on their latest three-year contract.
Union volunteers rolled out 52-gallon oil drums -- known as"burn barrels" -- and readied coffee and soup to keep expectedpicketers warm at the company's Everett, Washington plant,despite the balmy 65 degree weather.
"Until further notice, plan to be on strike on Saturday at12:01 a.m. September 6th," said the latest posting on theunion's website. "If no adequate offer is presented, your votealready cast for strike authorization stands."
The vast majority of the International Association ofMachinists and Aerospace Workers' (IAM) 27,000 members voted toreject Boeing's "best and final" offer Wednesday, butpostponed a strike for 48 hours to give negotiators more time.
Boeing and IAM teams, along with federal mediators, aremeeting at Walt Disney Co's Coronado Springs resortnear Orlando, Florida, where the IAM is set to have itsconvention, held every four years, from Sunday.
Representatives of both sides declined to comment on theprogress of the negotiations.
MICKEY MOUSE
A dozen or so angry workers gathered at the gates of theEverett plant, expecting to strike at midnight. Some wavedsigns saying "Mickey Mouse contract" and "Hope you are havingfun at Disney World".
"I can't believe they would go to Florida, they couldn't doit here in four months," said Joseph Young, a 48-year oldinsulation installer who has worked at Boeing for 21 years."We're not at it for the money, we're at it for the medical,which they (Boeing) are freaking crushing."
Boeing has proposed shifting more health care costs ontoworkers, one of the major sticking points in negotiations.
"Forty-eight hours was not enough time to accomplishanything, except to upset the members," said Brent Sanchez, 46,a 12-year veteran door mechanic. "Part of that time was spenttraveling to Florida."
Workers outside the gates said colleagues inside werereporting only about 25 percent attendance by mechanics at theplant. Boeing declined to comment on activity at itsfactories.
MIDNIGHT DEADLINE
The success of the talks should become clear by midnightSeattle time, which is when the current contract expires formost of Boeing's IAM members, who work at plants around thePuget Sound area.
By that time, Boeing will either make a new offer to theunion, or the IAM will activate the strike it put off for twodays. There also is a possibility that both sides will agree toanother extension to negotiations.
A strike would bring Boeing's massive plants at Everett andRenton, Washington to a standstill, halting production of its737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 planes.
Boeing, which made a $4.1 billion profit last year and hasa record $275 billion worth of commercial plane orders in itsbooks, could financially survive a short strike, but it wouldfurther complicate its efforts to get the already-delayed 787Dreamliner into the air.
If a strike prevents plane deliveries, it would cost Boeingabout $100 million in revenue per day and knock about 1 centper day off earnings per share, according to Wall Streetanalysts.
A walk-out by the IAM would be the fourth at Boeing in 20years. The union struck for 48 days in 1989, 69 days in 1995and 28 days in 2005. In 2002, a contract was adopted bydefault, as it was rejected by workers but fewer thantwo-thirds approved a strike.
BEST AND FINAL
Boeing's "best and final" contract offer this time aroundwas delivered to union members a week ago, proposing an 11percent wage increase over the three-year life of the contract,a one-time lump sum and ratification bonus, and otherincentives that the company said would add about $34,000 to thepay of the average machinist, who now makes about $65,000 ayear including overtime.
That failed to meet union demands for a 13 percent wageincrease, no change to health care contributions and theroll-back of provisions allowing Boeing to outsource work.
"I'd use this contract for toilet paper, but there's toomany holes in it," said Randy Carroll, a 52-year old mechanicat Boeing's plant in Auburn, Washington, who traveled toEverett in support of a likely strike. (Reporting by Bill Rigby in New York and Laura Myers inEverett, Washington; editing by Carol Bishopric)