I am currently taking part in a strike against my employer. The union membership voted overwhelmingly to reject the contract offer. Last Friday at 12:01 am the strike started and from noon to 4 pm that day I performed my first picket duty per the picket duty assignment cards sent out by the union last week. I am one of the few that voted for the contract but will support the union. A neighbor and fellow Boeing employee, made it known throughout the negotiations that he will vote to strike unless we get a killer contract. I saw him a bit ago and asked when he was going to do his picket duty. His reply? “I wouldn’t be caught dead picketing, that is so humiliating. I just wanted some time off work.”
I’ve always been curious about the process of “going on strike”. Out of curiosity, what happens if Boeing replaces you (or others) while you are out on strike, and refuses to negotiate further? Do you get your job back after the strike is over, or is that up to Boeing? IIRC Boeing pays machinists about 50,000 to 80,000 per year on average. Not to be negative, but won’t it be (relatively) easy for them to replace the striking members at those pay rates?
Even if they get made redundant, the theory is that the strikers as a group benefit long-term. This worked in the late 19th century, getting rid of the appalling working practices present in the Victorian mills and factories.
racer, I agree with you about your neighbor. A strike can be devastating to many union families, and I applaud you doing your picket duty, unpleasant though it can be. I hope your contract is settled as soon as possible, but with ignorant union members like that, I’m not encouraged. I can’t stand those people who want to take advantage of the benefits of a union, with no contribution when a strike comes.
Gah, and picketing is not “humiliating.” You like your union benefits? You support your union. Duh. Not a free ride. I second your :wally toward your neighbor.
Boeing would have quite a job trying to replace the striking workers. Those in the upper paygrades are highly trained in what we do. And being as Boeing is the only commercial airline manufacturer located in the US, finding replacements would be difficult. Due to layoffs in recent years, finding workers for the lower paygrades would not be that hard. Most of these folks do the installation or assembly work, a competent person could do the job easily. The FAA would also be a big part of the equation if replacements were hired, everyone has certain certifications that are required to perform certain processes. I have 14 different certs myself, most are electrical in nature. Plus I have over 300 hours of off hour training.
A local radio talk show host blasted the union and the members today calling us overpaid crybabies. I would gladly take his job, sit on my ass for 4 hours a day and most likely a generous 6 figure salary. Remember this talk show man, next time you get on an airplane to fly off on one of your quarterly vacations you brag about, do you want to fly on a plane built by a high trained, high skilled and justly compensated workforce or do you want to fly on an airplane built by a bunch of guys that were flipping burgers at McDonalds last week?
Actually, most radio personalities get paid fairly small salaries. The few I have known with sizable incomes make the extra monies doing public appearances [stores, malls, events like that, occasional commercials for local products.]
That radio talk show host probably makes low 5 figures, like 25-40K
The talk show host I speak of is very well known in the Seattle area, he ran for the US House last fall as a Democrat. His radio show has and is one of the top rated shows in the area and from campaign literature I received from his campaign last year, if elected, he was going to take a pay cut from his radio job. He also claims to turn down 4 or 5 very lucrative job offers a year, he states he wants to raise his family in the Seattle area. Plus he lives in an area where cheap houses start at half a million. His employer is well aware of this guy’s status and most likely pays him well above the market rate.