Today, your Union Negotiating Committee met with Boeing and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).
We will not mince words - after a full day of mediation, we are frustrated. The company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues you've made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension.
The company doesn't seem to be taking mediation seriously. With a 96% strike vote, we thought Boeing would finally understand that IAM Machinists are demanding more. We are fighting for what is right and just - for what we have earned over the past 16 years.
Recently, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who did not attend today's mediation, asked workers "not to sacrifice the opportunity to secure our future together because of the frustrations of the past." Today, we ask Boeing not to miss the opportunity to recognize its workers by presenting a contract that can resolve this labor dispute so we can get back to building and delivering Boeing aircraft.
There is no Boeing without the IAM - and no contract without the Members' vote!
Mediation will continue tomorrow as the Union and company meet again with the FMCS.
In Unity,
Your Union Negotiating Committee
Have union negotiators offered to trade expanded union programs and Machinest Union 401k (neither for which workers asked) for increased wages? We do not need two 401k's to manage, either now or in retirement, that's why people roll 401k's from old employers into their new employer 401k. We can fund our existing 401k or our IRA's as we see fit - this 401k offer looks sketchy. Besides offering a flat $2/hr, (though a boon for newer employees who are early in their progression) it's a slap in the face to seasoned employees who have carried the burden of building the company for the last 16 years - even while losing the pension. It feels like the seasoned employees are bei…