ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
ST. CHARLES — Union machinists at Boeing's defense plants in Hazelwood and St. Charles voted overwhelmingly Sunday to reject a company contract offer and to strike.
During a two-hour meeting at the St. Charles Family Arena, members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 cheered after it was announced that the membership had rejected the contract 1,548-532. The strike vote passed 1,619-459. Union officials said June 23 is the earliest a strike would begin.
The votes followed an all-out campaign by Boeing to persuade workers to support the deal, including postcards to Machinists' homes and "all-hands" meetings, a union official said Sunday.
"They went above and beyond what they ever have in any other contract to try to get the membership to buy this contract," said Gordon King, the president and directing business representative for District 837. "The membership saw through that."
Boeing's 41/2-year proposal would have raised Machinists' salaries an average of 3.6 percent a year and would have sweetened pension benefits for those already employed by the company. But King said the contract wasn't rejected based on the economic package so much as a possible hit to retirement benefits of future workers.
Under the company proposal, workers hired after January 2012 would not be covered by the same defined pension benefit plan current workers receive but would instead receive a contribution plan similar to an enhanced 401(k).
"All across the aerospace industry, they've been taking away defined pension plans, putting in 401(k)s, then a contract or two after that, they've been taking the 401(k) away from them," King said.
King added that Boeing's contract proposal also would have forced employees to pay 100 percent of their dependents' health care if the employee is on a leave of absence that exceeds six months and would have made changes to prescription drug benefits.
Tom Gianino, a 27-year Boeing employee, said he voted to reject the contract and to strike, in part, because of the loss of pension benefits for new employees.
"I'm not going to be here, but I want to leave a legacy that we left this in better shape than when we found it," said Gianino, a materials handler who participated in the 99-day strike the Machinists waged against McDonnell Douglas in 1996.
Like many of those who attended Sunday's meeting, he wore a T-shirt that read: "A quality contract for a quality workforce." The International Association of Machinists represents 2,533 workers in the St. Louis area.
In a statement, Boeing Co. officials expressed disappointment in Sunday's vote.
"The work we perform here in St. Louis is critically important to our country and the men and women of our armed services," the company said. "The fair and equitable contract we put forward recognizes the contributions made by our union employees in terms of enhanced salary, benefits and pension."
Last week, union aerospace workers began returning to work at Boeing's C-17 assembly facility in Long Beach following a monthlong strike there. The contract included a similar contribution benefit plan to the one St. Louis-area machinists object to, company officials said.
But King said the future of the C-17 military cargo jet program is more precarious than the products built in St. Louis — namely the F-15, F/A-18 Super Hornet and the missiles plant. Local employees also do some work on the C-17.
King said there will now be a seven-day cooling off period. During that time, King can send a letter to Boeing alerting the company that workers will strike on midnight of the seventh day after receipt of that letter.
King said he planned to contact Boeing officials Sunday to notify them of the strike vote and see whether they are willing to go back to the bargaining table.
"I'll probably give them until Wednesday to go back to the table," King said. "If we don't hear anything from them by Wednesday, we will be dropping the letter to go on strike."
King said the union has a strike fund through the district and the international.
Under the company proposal, workers hired after January 2012 would not be covered by the same defined pension benefit plan current workers receive but would instead receive a contribution plan similar to an enhanced 401(k).
"All across the aerospace industry, they've been taking away defined pension plans, putting in 401(k)s, then a contract or two after that, they've been taking the 401(k) away from them," King said.
King added that Boeing's contract proposal also would have forced employees to pay 100 percent of their dependents' health care if the employee is on a leave of absence that exceeds six months and would have made changes to prescription drug benefits.
Tom Gianino, a 27-year Boeing employee, said he voted to reject the contract and to strike, in part, because of the loss of pension benefits for new employees.
"I'm not going to be here, but I want to leave a legacy that we left this in better shape than when we found it," said Gianino, a materials handler who participated in the 99-day strike the Machinists waged against McDonnell Douglas in 1996.
In a statement, Boeing Co. officials expressed disappointment in Sunday's vote.
"The work we perform here in St. Louis is critically important to our country and the men and women of our armed services," the company said. "The fair and equitable contract we put forward recognizes the contributions made by our union employees in terms of enhanced salary, benefits and pension."
Last week, union aerospace workers began returning to work at Boeing's C-17 assembly facility in Long Beach following a monthlong strike there. The contract included a similar contribution benefit plan to the one St. Louis-area machinists object to, company officials said.
But King said the future of the C-17 military cargo jet program is more precarious than the products built in St. Louis — namely the F-15, F/A-18 Super Hornet and the missiles plant. Local employees also do some work on the C-17.
King said there will now be a seven-day cooling off period. During that time, King can send a letter to Boeing alerting the company that workers will strike on midnight of the seventh day after receipt of that letter.
King said he planned to contact Boeing officials Sunday to notify them of the strike vote and see whether they are willing to go back to the bargaining table.
"I'll probably give them until Wednesday to go back to the table," King said. "If we don't hear anything from them by Wednesday, we will be dropping the letter to go on strike."
King said the union has a strike fund through the district and the international.
No comments:
Post a Comment