A.V. WORKERS JOIN BOEING WALKOUT.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services PALMDALE - Some Boeing engineers and technicians at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. and Air Force Plant 42 joined a walkout by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) is a major Boeing engineering employee labor union. It is often known for its massive member base. External links
In Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , the organization represents about 400 Boeing employees, the majority of them at Edwards Air Force Base, a union official said. Seventeen work on Boeing's joint strike fighter program The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) became synonymous with the later F-35 Lightning II, however until 2001 the term was applied to the competition between the Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35. in Palmdale. Two strikers picketed Wednesday morning outside the gate to Plant 42's Site 1, and others picketed outside Edwards' south gate, officials said. ``We're hoping the folks up in Seattle will give us a boost down here,'' said John Bolin, the local council representative for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. The union's Bill Dugovich said from Seattle that the union has been working hard to promote its cause with all Boeing employees, and he ``expects a worker slowdown'' among the 19,100 Southern California employees at Boeing's Douglas Aircraft Co., formerly McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It merged with Boeing in 1997 to form The Boeing Company. Corp., in Long Beach. ``The workers (in Southern California) will do what they can to support the workers up here,'' Dugovich said. The union has sought more guaranteed pay raises and bonuses similar to those received by production workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is an AFL-CIO/CLC trade union representing approx. 646,933 workers as of 2006 in more than 200 industries. . Boeing has insisted on mostly selective pay hikes, reductions in life insurance benefits and some changes in health insurance. Boeing made its first contract offers to union members Nov. 11. Union members rejected the company's latest three-year offers. The strike began after the failure of last-ditch talks with a federal mediator mediator n. a person who conducts mediation. A mediator is usually a lawyer, or retired judge, but can be a non-attorney specialist in the subject matter (like child custody) who tries to bring people and their disputes to early resolution through a conference. . The union, Boeing's second-largest, represents about 22,000 engineers, scientists, manual writers, computer software designers and technicians in Washington, Kansas Washington is a city in Washington County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,223 at the 2000 census; the 2004 estimate was 1,162. Washington is the county seat of Washington CountyGR6. Washington is the home of the Washington County Tigers. , Florida, California, Oregon, Texas and Utah. About 13,000 are actual union members. Talks between Boeing and the union had been overseen by C. Richard Barnes Richard Barnes could be
``This is mediation. It's not magic,'' Barnes said. ``So we will attempt to continue to work with them and hopefully at some point we will be able to help them reach a satisfactory agreement.'' Some 10,000 members of the union rallied Wednesday morning at Renton Memorial Stadium, near Boeing's plant south of Seattle. ``They walked in, they thought they could bully us, and they were wrong,'' union Executive Director Charles Bofferding told the crowd to loud cheers. ``We've had it,'' Stan Sorscher, a Boeing physicist and member of the engineers' negotiating team said before the rally. ``Our job security and our company and our product are at stake here.'' Peter B. Conte, a Boeing spokesman, said Wednesday the company was still measuring the effects of the walkout. ``We don't have a history of strikes with this union, so we don't have that level of detail to fall back on,'' he said. The union has no strike fund and never before has attempted a full-scale walkout. Its only previous strike was a one-day walkout in 1992, but union leaders this time promised to disrupt Boeing's operations. |
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