Will Boeing's union strategy work?

How can the union leaders, in good conscience, demand wage increases and additional benefits with the current state of the economy? This is tantamount to blackmail. It lends some insight into why foreign concerns are getting contracts we think we deserve. Unions are no longer "collective bargaining" entities; they are more akin to collective liabilities - - parasites who would kill the host rather. As an entrepreneur who must earn my daily rations, I am offended by the "fat cats" who take pride in breaking the backs of corporations while lining their pockets with underserved assets.

How can they justify it?
Excerpt:
(Crain’s) — Total compensation for Boeing Co. Chairman, President and CEO W. James McNerney Jr. reached about $19 million last year, including non-cash stock and option awards totaling about $8.5 million, according to the firm's annual proxy statement.

The total also includes a cash bonus of nearly $4.3 million on a base salary of $1.8 million, plus the value of his pension increased by nearly $3.5 million.

Revenue at Boeing in 2007 rose 8% to $66.39 billion while profit gained 84% to $4.07 billion.

The bonus was 230% of his current salary, raised to $1,855,000 last July, which was the maximum annual incentive award he can earn under his employment agreement.
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Is that a reasonable reason? You ever get a bonus of TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY PERCENT OF YOUR SALARY?

mark

This is the reason multinationals send jobs overseas. dumb union move will change the Seattle landscape forever.

While there are problems with Union leaders, there are also problems with coperate leaders, for instances company give CEO's etc: huge pay raises in the guise of stock bonuses and then bragg that it really dosen't cost them anything and then turn around and bill the goverment millions in tax exempts, where are all you people with this critisium.. sorry about some of the spelling...

Tis clever to try to link the machinists salary offer to that of the president. Clever, but not convincing.

Boeing's stock adequately reflects its sagging fortunes in an era of rising fuel costs, with far worse to come. Personally, I plan to begin concentrating on foreign-made aircraft for travel. I don't have to put up with the prima donna machinists union. I did the same thing years ago by switching from domestic cars to foreign made. Better reliability and less worry about their unions.

Unions leader are no longer working for the best interest of their workers, they still draw a salary while they tell the workers to strike and what good is a big increase in pay and benefits if the company closes and moves out of the country. Also the same goes to the CEOs and other top corp. officials that get millions of dollars a years plus benefits, they are just not worth it. Everyone needs to regroup and make reasonable adjustments so that the economy can survive.

According to 8/29 BNN (Boeing News Network) post the contract has given the machinist a $2500 signing bonus another $2500 if they signed the contract before 9/3 and 5% increase in wages for this year and 3% increase for the next two years, according to Boeing this is going to be the last rounds of talks

This is the same thing the unions did to GM. Then years later when the company starts to collapse because of the blackmailed burden put on it by the union the union blames it on the company for mismanagement. Boeing should refuse to bend and if it costs several thousand their jobs then maybe the employees will see that the union only works for it's short term interests. No wonder company's are leaving the USA.

Boeing is commiting a violation of Federal Labor law by 'direct dealing' with the workers. This is an unfair labor practice and is clearly a violation. I would suspect an Unfair Labor Practice strike will soon be voted on.

Unions by design fight for, and bring more to there membership during negotiations...that's why we belong to a union - we always have someone helping us secure more for our famillies for the work that we do as we work hard to ensure the Company makes a profit. CEO's get bonus's for production - why shouldn't we? Don't get mad at us beacuse we earn more - get off your rear end and join us...your family will thank you for it and union dues are tax deductible.

Try not to blame the unionized worker for wanting better job security with a promise of less outsourcing. As far as workers pay vs CEO pay I realize an officer of the company should make more than an assembly worker, shouldn't the worker benefit from the same formula that justifies paying these huge pecentages to officers. Obviously the company must be happy with the product and profit margin to be distributing this wealth.

It's not the unions that dictate engineering to design things cheaper essentially leading to cutting corners, increasing the bottom line.

Is the money saved by cheaper and cheaper labor reflected proportionately in the price of the any product?

Don't kid yourself.

-after companies continue to reap the rewords of cheaper and cheaper labor, who will buy the products when 90 percent of the population barely affords sustenance?

One thing none of these articles state is the STARTING wage is $11.72 hr! That hasn't changed since 1992. Do any of you want to start at a job at what you were making then? The workers have given back when Boeing was hurting, now with 4 BILLION in profits for 2007- it's our time. And they have that not because of the failed 787 and it's outsourcing -it's because of the workers in the US making the best aircraft in the world !