1 min read

Season 5, Episode 191

Buffenbarger: IAM has the upper hand in contract talks with Boeing

AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_AWF

 

Guest Name:


Tom Buffenbarger

Guest Website:


AWF Union Podcast 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


 

Tom Buffenbarger, an independent labor voice, appeared on the AWF Union Podcast and spoke about the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) strike at Boeing and how the union may have the upper hand in the negotiations.

Members of the IAM who work at Boeing have been on strike for 12 days. Buffenbarger recalled past IAM strikes at Boeing, including in 1989 (48-day strike), 1995 (69-day strike), 2005 (28-day strike) and 2008 (57-day strike). He explained that those strikes were about improving wages and benefits. Both management and labor wanted the company to succeed, and both sides worked hard to make the company the best aircraft manufacturer in the world. 

He pointed to the company’s 1997 acquisition of McDonald Douglas as the start of labor problems at Boeing. Since the merger, there has been a transition from the company being run with an engineering focus to a financial focus. As Boeing management gave way to G.E. management, problems began to surface, according to Buffenbarger.

During negotiations for the past Collective Bargaining Agreement, Buffenbarger said Boeing had the upper hand as it threatened to move its Seattle plant to South Carolina. In exchange for keeping the Seattle plant open, the IAM agreed to switch from a defined benefits plan to a 401k plan. 

Now, the tables have turned as it has been a bad year for Boeing due to the structural issues with its 737 Maxx and 787 planes, plus the problem with its Starliner Spacecraft that stranded two astronauts at the International Space Station. 

According to Buffenbarger, IAM members have the upper hand in these talks and want to return to a defined pension plan, plus be guaranteed that a new plane will be built in Seattle. He said Boeing has resorted to using the illegal Boulware negotiating tactic G.E. used in the 1960s in an attempt to win public opinion. Buffenbarger believes this may lead to a long strike.

Listen to the show above to hear more from Buffenbarger.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

SUBSCRIBE ON:

Group 342

Group 341

Group 343

Group 339

Group 397

Group 397

 

125th edition of the Army-Navy Game will include the American Legion

Jeff Stoffer, Director of Media and Communications for the American Legion, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the December...

Read More

Senior vote split between both presidential candidates

Rich Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the potential impact...

Read More