When I lost my pensions: Bringing the 737 to a final rest? Reply to IAM 751 President Jon Holden
“When we lost our pensions, I cried,” said Kat Kinckiner, a union steward at the plant in Renton, Wash. where Boeing assembles the 737. This was my future. It was so devastating to see something taken like that.
At the rally in Seattle last week, Kinckiner and other union members made it very clear they want to reinstate the pension plan they lost a decade ago.
IAM 751 president Jon Holden says he understands why some of his members are still angry, and why some are still fighting to get the pension plan back.
The union’s leadership is not making a recommendation as to how members should vote on this offer. The September vote where the union only recommended acceptance, was criticized by some members.
Our responsibility is to get this in front of the members so that they can make that decision. I hope they will consider this, but it’s up to them.
The Boeing Plan to Become a Majority Payer in the U.S. Aircraft and an Employer’s Fairness Guarantee
The union wanted a 40% raise but Boeing is still offering a 35% wage hike, an increase from the initial offer of 25%. The company would also increase its contributions to employees 401k retirement funds.
The focus at the moment is on Boeing and its proposal to the striking machinists. The union says that the Secretary of Labor helped restart negotiations.
Boeing declined to make Ortberg available for an interview. Since taking over as Boeing’s CEO in August, he’s kept a low profile. Ortberg is expected to speak publicly for the first time during an earnings call Wednesday morning. The company expects its losses to be at least $5 billion in the third quarter.
The Boeing Crisis in the Changing Light of the IAM Strike: An Analysis of the $31 Billion Dollar Loss in the Third Quarter of Boeing
“I don’t think that bankruptcy’s inevitable,” said Kevin Michaels, managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, an industry consulting firm. “It is a possibility. It’s a higher possibility today than it was six months ago or a year ago. I don’t believe it’s inevitable.
The president of the International Association of Maturists and Aeronautical Workers District 751 said their members were able to get Boeing to move a lot.
What seems certain is that Boeing’s problems will outlast the strike, whenever it ends. The strike halted production at its factories in the Pacific Northwest, which led to a loss of more than a billion dollars a month.
“Restoring our company requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive,” Ortberg said in a memo to employees earlier this month.
Ortberg is taking over at a crucial moment for Boeing. The head of Emirates, a major Boeing customer, said this month that the planemaker could be heading for a credit rating cut, with Chapter 11 looming on the horizon.
Boeing quickly announced that it intends to raise billions of dollars to replenish its cash flow — including up to $25 billion by selling stock and other securities, and another $10 billion through a new line of credit.
Boeing reported a loss of over $6 billion in the third quarter on Wednesday, as its striking machinists voted on whether to accept a new contract offer.