Union, Angry at Pay Offer, Strikes Boeing : Machinists Seek Larger Share of Firm’s Prosperity

SEATTLE —  Tens of thousands of Boeing Co. machinists, angered by what they felt was a stingy wage offer by the prosperous aerospace giant, hit the picket lines today and said they will remain off the job for as long as it takes to win a more generous contract.

After overwhelmingly rejecting a contract offer from the world’s largest aerospace company, thousands of Boeing workers in plants in the Puget Sound area, Portland, Ore., and Wichita, Kan., as well as other locations began picketing at 12:01 a.m. in their respective locales.

“We have gone through the hard times with this company,” said Tom Baker, president of District Lodge 751, International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. “We just want to go through the good times with them as well as the hard times.”

57,000 Vote

About 57,000 machinists voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to reject Boeing’s three-year contract offer and to reaffirm a strike deadline.

Because of the two-hour time difference, workers in Wichita at the Boeing Military Airplanes plant led the walkout, followed by the huge work force in the Seattle area. About 12,000 of the Wichita plant’s 25,000 employees are covered by the machinists contract.

The strike hits Boeing in the midst of its fifth consecutive year of record jetliner orders as airlines strive to update their aging fleets and as the aircraft giant has been under pressure to maintain its delivery schedules.

So far this year, carriers and leasing companies have ordered 736 planes worth $38.5 billion, and workers have had to work heavy overtime schedules to meet the order deadlines.

Boeing spokesman Paul Binder said the company was combing its “skills index” to find supervisors who could fill assembly line positions and keep airliners rolling out of the plants. He said there are no plans to bring in outsiders to help out. He said he did not know how many supervisory personnel are available.

“This is a negotiating position. . . . It’s not a take-it-or-leave-it (offer),” Binder said of the company’s latest offer. He refused to comment further on the company’s reaction to the walkout.

Union spokesman Jack Daniels said it would take two to three weeks to shut down Boeing operations completely because supervisors could finish some nearly completed airplanes and assemblies with parts already on hand.

Daniels said the union will ask for support from the Teamsters, which during the last strike delivered supplies as far as the picket line but did not drive through.

Baker said union members are unified and determined to get a better share of Boeing’s record prosperity.

The three-year Boeing offer for the 57,000 machinists, including 43,300 in the Seattle area, included an immediate raise of 4% with 3% raises in both 1990 and 1991, plus annual bonuses of 8% of a worker’s gross earnings this year and 3% the next.

Union members said they have not gotten a raise in six years, having accepted yearly bonuses only. They underlined a wage increase as the key issue.