Machinists union talking tough

At the gates of Boeing factories around the Puget Sound region Saturday, Machinists union picketers made their voices heard. Inside, aircraft-production lines were silent.

On day one of the Machinists strike at Boeing, the union's national leader, Tom Buffenbarger, sharply criticized the company's bargaining strategy and talked tough about standing up to Boeing.

In a phone interview Saturday from Florida, where he's headlining the International Association of Machinists (IAM) quadrennial convention, Buffenbarger implied that his members could strike long enough to drain Boeing's coffers. It now has about $10 billion in ready cash.

"Let's see," he said, "Most analysts peg the [Boeing revenue] loss at $100 million a day, so that's about three months and a week to them."

Many Machinists have been saving for a strike. On the picket line outside the Everett wide-body-jet plant Saturday, Sam Long said he's been through this before and is prepared and willing to stay out for several months, having saved money and stocked up on food.

"This is my fourth strike, and we know how to do this," said Long. "We'll stay out here as long as it takes."

Buffenbarger conceded that a long Boeing shutdown would be "a big hit on the national economy," as well as that of Washington state, in already tough financial times. "We're not oblivious to that," he said. "The pressure should be on the company. ... Boeing needs to totally readjust its [labor] strategy."

Boeing spokesman Chris Villiers said Saturday he had taken calls from employees worried about their bills and saying they don't wish to strike.

"Nobody benefits from a strike," Villiers said.

But 87 percent of Machinists voted to walk out, and Saturday they began shifts of picket duty.

Outside the Everett plant, just about every other passing motorist waved or honked in support of the sign-waving Machinists. A few drivers raised clenched fists in a gesture of solidarity.

Ken Groves, a veteran striker set to retire next year, settled himself into a folding chair with a look of resolute determination.

"They've made a livelihood from me and my three boys, and I want the good jobs to stay here," said Groves, who works on the 777 wing.

Carol Brister, a Machinist who was on the line with her husband, also a Machinist at Boeing, said, "We're fighting for people who were just hired here and for the people who've worked here a long time and deserve their benefits."

She said strikers also are trying to prevent the company from being able to outsource increasing numbers of jobs with impunity.

"It's about the willingness of the company to assure us we have a long-term future," Brister said.

Outsourcing jobs

Heading a union that represents some 435,000 working Machinists and more than 200,000 retirees, Buffenbarger is one of the most powerful union leaders in America.

To ensure that Buffenbarger could be involved directly in Friday's talks, local IAM leader Tom Wroblewski, along with IAM national aerospace coordinator Mark Blondin, flew to Orlando, as did Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Scott Carson and Boeing's top negotiator Doug Kight.

Citing a secrecy pledge, Buffenbarger declined to disclose specific details of the bargaining proposals offered at those talks, but he said "there was give and take on both sides" — though clearly not enough.

Buffenbarger said that Boeing had been surprised by the big vote against its contract offer and that the company needs to change its approach. He complained that "they're not all on the same team on their side about how to deal with the union."

He said Boeing's policy this time — communicating its proposals directly to employees — was an attempt to circumvent the union negotiators and backfired badly.

"They were solidly defeated," he said. "Our members ... weren't going to tolerate that."

Buffenbarger spoke at length about one issue that many analysts think could be a major sticking point: outsourcing.

The union wants a contract that will prevent future outsourcing of parts delivery and other work, something that is already happening on assembly of the 787 Dreamliner.

Surprisingly, Buffenbarger brought up an IAM agreement with General Electric (GE) — a company so well-known for outsourcing that he once dubbed it Gone Elsewhere — as a way forward on the issue.

He said the GE contract gives the union the right to show it can do any work considered for outsourcing better and cheaper.

Villiers said Boeing already has similar language in its contract, giving the union 180 days to put in a proposal and bid for work against an outside vendor.

"That's working well for us," Villiers said. "It's made us more competitive."

That has added jobs at Boeing rather than taken them away, Villiers said, with 8,000 Machinists jobs and 4,000 engineering union jobs added since the last IAM contract talks in 2005.

Yet Buffenbarger insisted the Boeing contract language doesn't give the union as much as the latest GE contract.

"We're trying to show them a way to run the business better," Buffenbarger said. "We can save them money, or make them money."

Villiers said Boeing is open to looking at the language in the GE contract.

Despite that hint of movement on a key issue, the two sides remain deadlocked with no further meetings scheduled.

On the picket line, Machinists wait for progress between company and union leaders.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com