Posted on 01/03/2014 5:49:57 PM PST by mdittmar
SEATTLE (AP) -- A contract offer to Boeing machinists that would concede some pension and health care benefits in order to secure assembly of the company's new 777X airplane in Washington state has fractured the union.
It has drawn unusual pleas from politicians who say the deal is necessary to support the Puget Sound region's economic future. Boeing has been exploring the prospect of building the 777X elsewhere, a move that could trigger a steady exodus of aerospace jobs from a region where Boeing was founded.
Local union officials, meanwhile, urged their 30,000 members to oppose the deal that members were voting on Friday, arguing that the proposal surrenders too much at a time of company profitability. They have opposed taking a vote at all but were overruled by national leaders in the Machinists union.
Voting was scheduled for 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Results were expected to be announced later in the night.
A few hundred workers had lined up in front the union hall in Everett, located across from Boeing, to obtain ballots Friday morning. A steady stream of workers walked inside with light blue envelopes in hand.
Tina Shrader, a Boeing worker for eight years, said she was voting no.
"I don't want to mess with my pension. I'm here for my paycheck and for my pension," Shrader said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ex Teamsters here. When I was let go by a certain company many years ago, those bastards didn’t help my group one bit. I hate any labor union in any form.
I wouldn’t doubt that.
If those greedy Seattle idiots don't want to be a part of it, there are plenty of other Americans who do.
Does anyone know if the union voted the contract down?
Yes...the union LOST and was not happy about it either. 51/49 vote. So barely lost. But they did lose and I am happy as I live here and it will not plunge the whole area into a depression. The union guy showed his face on TV for 45 seconds and ran off without answering a single question.
Want your profitability governed so it doesn't become "excessive"? Let a union in.
Actually having the job that provides both is optional.
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