On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 16:34:55 GMT, "Wayne Lundberg"
wrote:

The Machinists Union at Boeing are on strike. Boeing is the most significant
resource for good jobs in the United States that mostly provide solid
exports and thus great act in balancing the trade deficit. When over 18,000
assemblers (they dare call themselves machinists!) are idled, the trickle
down effect will be devastating because all
these workers do is to assemble pieces that have been made in almost every
machine shop across the nation. This will idle over 180,000 additional
real machinists who are mostly innocently non-union people for the most
part and lacking
the support of a union to help pay the bills while not working. Since it is
a well proven fact that every manufacturing job supports five non
manufacturing jobs.... (One manufacturing hour's output is eventually sold
at an
average $120.00, so at $20.00 hour rates this is six people)
the effect is bound to be cataclysmic in loss of revenue across the nation.

Boeing has said they will not recover from this strike and I believe them.
The French will mobilize Airbus to the nth degree to steal Boeings customers
and have the Brits and other European nations behind them so there will be
no shortages of parts for Airbus.

Thus in one fell swoop our great labor union mentality, avarice and
self-indulgence is about to put us into bankruptcy. They have done it to
almost 80% of all manufacturing jobs already by sending them to Mexico and
China. Now they are giving the EU the golden eggs and killing the goose
itself that used to live and thrive in this nation.

Wayne

Wayne,
I have to disagree. The union was given an ultimatum. The offer upped
medical cost from $66.00 to over $400.00 for a family. Now I know that
lots of folks pay more than that. I do. I'm self employed. But this is
a huge increase. And Boeing says there will be no compromise. And any
economic suffering Boeing has can be laid at the feet of Boeing
management. The latest jet will be having it's wings made overseas.
This means that very valuable technology will now be in the hands of a
foreign government. If the unions were truly the downfall then the EU
would have fallen years ago. We would not be losing business to
Airbus. I've been watching Boeing for years now and the outsourcing
won't stop until Americans are paid third world wages. However, I do
think it's silly to call all the blue collar union workers machinists.
But that's the classifaction. I responded to an ad for an "Outside
Machinist" that was for the Washington State Ferries. The woman I
spoke with told me that and "Outside Machinist" was actually a diesel
mechanic. I guess anybody who manipulates machined parts is a
machinist.
Eric R Snow