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FIX This Mess

Boeing… Going… Gone

By Mike Botta

It appears the Machinists union won the battle, but lost the war.

Aerospace giant Boeing announced last week that it was placing its second production line for the new 787 in South Carolina, not a country mile but a whole country away from its traditional production base in Washington State.

Now that the war has been lost, a whole host of union types have been surfacing in press reports claiming that the labor force would have accepted terms of a 10-year promise not to strike.

Is the Union Just a Scapegoat?

Charges have been flying that the aircraft maker used the union as a scapegoat, blaming labor for the switch while really just accepting a very sweet offer from the State of South Carolina. 

How could the company deliver such a blow to generations of workers who helped make the company successful after all these years?

There’s probably a little bit of truth to all of the rhetoric on both sides, but from the looks of things the Machinists union didn’t exactly do itself any favors a year ago by calling an eight-week strike against Boeing at a critical time for the production of the 787. 

The Strike Last Year Cost Billions

The brash union move, according to experts, caused production delays that cost Boeing billions of dollars in deferred revenue and caused some huge airline customers to see the company as being somewhat unreliable because of its ongoing labor squabbles.

According to some reports, Boeing has faced strike or strike threats multiple times over the past 20 years.

Several union workers were quoted as saying they gladly would have accepted a no-strike deal if only the company agreed not to touch benefits.

Not Much Talk, Just Walk

From the company side, there hasn’t been much talking.  They just did it by walking.

This certainly should be a big wake-up call not only for the Boeing Machinists, but for unions everywhere. The era of outright confrontation is way, way past. Unions must find a way to work with management or face the ultimate consequences.

Some say it’s just a “legal” way for big business to bust unions, taking a page from the book of former President Ronald Reagan who fired the nation’s air traffic controllers in the ‘80s, opening a big door for companies to try similar tactics.

Have Unions Lost Their Way?

Right or wrong, unions seem to be in trouble, which is unfortunate. Ideally, they serve a great purpose in preventing workplace abuse.  Talk to any non-union worker who today is expected to work 80-hour weeks for low pay and no benefits. He or she most likely would gladly fly under some sort of union flag.

But, the big unions somewhere along the line became big businesses themselves, and haven’t always acted in the best interests of their members. Instead, they seem to often act in the best interests of their highly paid leaders.

Quoting Yogi, It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

In this case, the Machinists won a battle last year. Unfortunately for them, they lost the war last week.

On the other hand, companies should be careful not to accept such victories as total anti-union sentiment on the part of the mass public. Keep chewing up and spitting out workers and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be seeing Machinists II – the Sequel play out a few years down the road – maybe even in theaters in South Carolina.

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Comments

  • Gordon Crosby on Nov 6 2009 6:39:55:000AM

    As to your last statement about the a sequel, I doubt it. Many South Carolinans remember Mack Truck that was located in Winnsboro South Carolina. The company allowed the union to follow it from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, the plant closed down within 7 years because of union activity. This left a bad taste for unions, especially in Winnsboro.

  • Dennis Andrews on Nov 5 2009 5:32:24:000PM

    Union leader have performed the same tactics that big business management would do with the workers paying the price. If this type of behavior continues there will be now hope for the future. To the left wing we need to help business out but to the right wing we need to control the greed of a few that hurt the many. It is time for every one to walk the fine line, if we do not change we are doomed to the fate of many civilizations that have come and gone.

  • Chief Nosseum on Nov 5 2009 2:58:24:000PM

    I think that Boeing would have moved some production to SC even if there was no strike last year. In the late 1980s Mack truck shifted production of their over the road trucks from the unionized plant in Allentown, PA to a new plant in SC. Of course, the UAW followed them, and eventually organized the SC plant. To make matters more painful, the first 1000 trucks produced at the new plant with inexperienced labor did not run and had to be stored on site for a year until they could be re-worked. This caused Mack to miss the boom year for sales. While there were a bunch of jerks on both the management and the union sides at the old plant, they could work together enough to get the job done. Starting from scratch is easier said than done.

  • Alex Carter on Nov 5 2009 2:43:21:000PM

    The only non-union employees being expected to work 80 hours for low pay and no benefits are illegals who need not be refered to in this argument. Now, the effect of AS9100/ISO 9000 implementation has finally manifested itself. Expectations for quality and performance have sunk to that "ideal" level of mediocrity where employees can get by with a minimum skill level. It's simple supply and demand. Just about anyone can meet the new low expectations for performance and the unions no longer represent the best of the best, so why pay more for mediocrity when it is banging on your door everyday.

  • John Weaver on Nov 5 2009 1:54:07:000PM

    There are very good points made in all of these comments but one thing is expressed only indirectly, "many non-union shops work very hard to keep their employees satisfied enough that they won't seek to organize as a union" and "What is very interesting is that the wages in non-union automotive plants in the South are virtually equivalent to union plants in the North, albeit their medical and other benefits are not comparable. All this is done to prevent unionization". It's true that all workers must provide value for the work performed but without Unions (and the "fear" of Unionization) I would argue that we would see 'third world' wages in this Country within a very short time. When SC becomes "too expensive" to support "competitive profits" then Boeing will just move to China or India and we can beg for aircraft as well as integrated circuits and all the other high-tech toys on which our national defense depends... Nations are fast becoming nothing more than colonies for 'international corporations' and Union bashing won't stop this. With any luck Wal-Mart corporate policy will 'force' them to pull out of the U.S. as well... 'falling prices' aren't much good when wages are falling just as fast.

  • Mark Simpson on Nov 5 2009 1:53:13:000PM

    Unions need to remember that they supply the labor portion of the equation and that performing high quality work efficiently will keep them all employed. Companies need to remember that their profits come from the work done by the front line employees and that when they are considered expendible or simply as an expense then loyality and committment to quality will suffer. There are pleanty of lessons for both sides!

  • James Ross on Nov 5 2009 1:29:02:000PM

    My experience with unions is based on being a unions that "protected" completely inept employee from being fired by their company. It was got so blatant that the company I worked for would rather pay a few guys to sit in their cars in the parking lot all day rather than ask them to do any work. The company would call me in to get something done, but because of seniority would have to at least ask the guys more senior also. Of course they would always say yes but more than once the supervisor would have them stay outside of the jobsite while a few of us less experienced personal would finish the job. Unions had their place at one time, but they have so far overstepped their bounds it would be laughable if it weren't such a serious problem. I have seen Unions actual go on strike because a company wanted to reduce their health care from 100% to 90% coverage. Meanwhile the company is struggling to stay competitive. There are a few good Unions left I like the Ironworkers Unions and the Electrical guys, but for the most part Unions breed incompetent employees who feel the company owes them a job or more accurately a pay check.

  • Geoffrey Blake on Nov 2 2009 12:59:03:000PM

    Having an honorary withdrawal card from the UAW I remember a few things about what unions can do for you-the worker...but I have also come to realize that any company can only survive when pay is based on the value of the work performed. Once that link is severed, everyone is at risk. The auto industry and aerospace have both been devastated by such a huge gap between value and union demand. The time is overdue for Union leaders to address their membership and explain the facts of life to their dues-paying membership. Geoff Blake

  • Christopher Hahin on Nov 2 2009 6:44:26:000PM

    Although South Carolina (SC) is "right to work state", it doesn't automatically translate that Boeing will have a completely non-union plant. Finding skilled aerospace employees in a state not known for aerospace will mean that many union members from Seattle and Wichita will migrate to SC, and probably petition for union status and convince the natives in due time. What is very interesting is that the wages in non-union automotive plants in the South are virtually equivalent to union plants in the North, albeit their medical and other benefits are not comparable. All this is done to prevent unionization. Boeing, unfortunately, cannot pull out like Wal-Mart did in Canada when unionization of some of thier stores become evident. After investing a billion or more in SC, Boeing can hardly afford to shut down simply to punish the machinists union. Whereby the machinists shot cutting tools in their feet with their strike, Boeing cannot afford to shut down an SC plant just to see their European competition float another advanced Airbus.

  • Tom H on Nov 2 2009 4:27:07:000PM

    To make a blanket statement that non-union emplyees are forced to work 80 hour weeks for low pay and no benefits is wrong. Especially in manufacturing, many non-union shops work very hard to keep their employees satisfied enough that they won't seek to organize as a union. Furthermore, there are many union shops that are so poorly represented, that their members end up working very long hours for very low pay, poor benefits, and then also pay weekly union dues for their effort. I am not opposed to union representation. But don't fool yourself into believing that flying under a union flag is universally better for workers.

  • Justyn T on Nov 2 2009 3:46:44:000PM

    My experience with unions has been this. The leaders are usually elected from the rank and file. Their highest priority is to get re-elected. If they don't show that they've done something for their members, they will lose re-election. So, even if the workers are satisfied with the status quo, the leaders will stir something up in order to, now, negotiate on behalf of the members. They must win the battle with management or face a loss in the next election and be forced to return to the rank and file. So they over-negotiate, over-represent, do whatever it takes to "win", even if it involves losses to the company, the workers and often to the buying public. Unfortunately a built-in conflict of interest in the very nature of the union management setup dictates that eventually the workers will price themselves out of a job. If unions are to survive, they must re-structure their leadership priorities, eliminate the built-in conflict of interest, and operate in an environment that recognizes the economics of labor's value to the business community.

  • D Henning on Nov 2 2009 1:32:52:000PM

    I think unions are still important but they need to change their focus to include not only what is good for the employee but also what is good for the industry. We need to be competitive globaly but we are riddled with many non-productive policies. Job protection is one of the biggest roadblocks to productivity in any organization.

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