WSJ: Boeing workers reject contract.

WSJ: Boeing workers reject contract.

New teachers coming in face a bunch of HR paperwork and a visit from a teachers union official.  At Normandy and North Royalton, I declined to join the union.  In both cases, the union official was curious, courteous and reasonable.  I had a collegial relationship with both through out my career.

Public sector unions are a sham.  The union backs a school board member, the member get elected, the union and board negotiate a contract, and everyone goes to the district residents to ask for more money.

Private sector unions don’t have that issue.  As an engineer at Caterpillar, I spent quite a bit of time in Caterpillar and Chrysler manufacturing plants.  Those unions have different problems, but it isn’t an ethical issue.  Industrial unions are prone to being unreasonable.

Here’s a quote from a Caterpillar worker prior to a contract vote:  “I don’t know what we’re asking for, but we damn well better get it.”

A guy told me that, and it stuck with me because it’s a marvelous sentiment.

It’s startling that 96% of the machinists would reject an agreement negotiated by their own leadership.  They make a good case.

Along the picket line outside Seattle on Friday, company veterans expressed anger and bitterness about union concessions over the past 16 years that have eroded retirement and health benefits.

Inflation has been under 2% for over a decade.  Companies have been chipping away on healthcare and retirement, and justifying tiny COL raises in order to stay competitive.  Inflation is up, corporate staff seems to be well-paid, so now the union machinists want a fair deal.  That doesn’t sound crazy.  

Dias, a father of three, said he makes close to $48,000 a year. That would have increased to $51,000 in the contract’s first year, he said.

Minimum wage in Seattle is $20 per hour.  This machinist is making $24 per hour.  As one machinist put it:

“We’re not building toy cars for Walmart. We’re building a plane that puts people in the air,” Vo said.

Boeing is a company with problems, but those problems didn’t come from the people building airplanes, they came from management.  Someone assembling airplanes should be making quite a bit more than a school bus driver.