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 Lundberg wrote:
a terse and plausible description of a big problem.

Wayne, I tend to agree. Our best hope now (for keeping the US
manufacturing infrastructure intact) is the Japanese automakers.
Fortunately that seems to be going well; here in Ohio, Honda is the top
of the food chain and growing.
--
Fred R
________________
Drop TROU to email.

Are they unionized?

"Fred R" "spam wrote in message
.. .
Wayne Lundberg wrote:
a terse and plausible description of a big problem.

Wayne, I tend to agree. Our best hope now (for keeping the US
manufacturing infrastructure intact) is the Japanese automakers.
Fortunately that seems to be going well; here in Ohio, Honda is the top
of the food chain and growing.
--
Fred R
________________
Drop TROU to email.

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

"Eric R Snow" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 16:34:55 GMT, "Wayne Lundberg"
---snip---
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

There would be no problem if the unions accepted the simple fact that
tooling, horsepower, automation and robotics were a fact of life and learn
to use these tools instead of putting themselves in the way of technology.
As a manufacturing engineer in all of my projects I accounted for the
potential loss of a job by showing that the increased productivity and cost
reductions would evolve into greater sales so that the machinist at the
cutoff saw would now be promoted to receiving inspection.... but the unions
never paid attention.

Case in point: Back in 1985 when robotics were just getting a start our
Chapter 299 of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the San Diego City
College launched an "Automation Technology" course that would produce an
associate's degree in two years of evening classes. I was with Solar
Turbines, a division of Caterpillar, and wanted to post an announcement of
this course along the passageways at the plant to recruit students and to
let people know what the college was doing to help promote efficiency in a
difficult time when work was already going overseas. I was told "No way!" by
the union and our feeble, weak-kneed HR people went along with it. Why?
Because there was no classification for Automation Technologist in the union
papers, rules or regulations and they were not about to support an effort
that would reduce the number of man hours to accomplish a task. No matter
what.

Graduates of the first few years did find rewarding employment, but not
enough. The course has since gone into outer space. And over 80% of good
paying manufacturing jobs in San Diego have vanished.

Wayne

On Sat, 03 Sep 2005 16:34:55 GMT, "Wayne Lundberg"
wrote:
snip
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.
snip
Problem is there is always a "rest of the story."

While it is true that there appears to be very large signing
bonuses up from for every union member, it is the
Esau/Jacob/Isaac story all over again.

The worm in this apple is the revision of the contract that
allows Boeing to curtail medical coverage for existing employees
and retirees by both increasing premium sharing and co-payments.
This is to end in the total elimination of medical coverage for
both current and retired union employees.

Thus, current union members are being asked to not only
compromise their own long-term best self interests for a not
inconsiderable immediate up front cash payment, but to also "sell
out" their retired members that relied on company medical
insurance when making their retirement plans.

If this latest birthright for pottage swap is accepted, it will
be only a matter of time before the existing Boeing defined
benefit pension plans are terminated and ceded to the PBGC, to be
replaced with fraudulent 401k plans at best or more likely
nothing for the hourly employees. This process has already begun
with the sale of most of the actual manufacturing operation to a
shadowy Canadian conglomerate with little to no knowledge about
building aircraft but considerable expertise in rendering dead
and dyeing corporations, especially those suffering from
self-inflicted wounds, to recover assets such as "excess" pension
funds.

The "Jacobs/suits" have well insulated their
deferred-compensation and benefit funds in a series of
judgment/bankruptcy proof "trust funds," and will prosper no
matter what happens.

Make no mistake about it - you are involved, even if do not work
for Boeing, own no Boeing stock and do no Boeing subcontracting.
People do not stop getting sick or injured just because they have
no medical coverage, and Americans do not allow other Americans
to die in the streets. Your taxes will go up, and the
quality/quantity of medical care available to you will go down as
Boeing reduces and then ends medical coverage of their current
and retired employees. As Boeing pensions are terminated, your
taxes will increase and/or your pension will decrease to cover
the soaring PBGC costs.

The obvious solution to this current difficulty is to again move
corporate headquarters. Just as management solved the last crisis
by moving to Chicago, they can solve this one by moving to New
Orleans….

"Wayne Lundberg" wrote in message
...
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.

Boeing of Portland is just one big machine shop with probably the largest
heat treating facility on the west coast. I have been through the plant
about
20+ years ago. Although most are machine operators not real machinist's,
they do cut metal however.

We do have a real problem with health insurance in this country. So many
things
have caused the rates to go up. It's almost $900 a month on the west coast
for
Health insurance. We have been getting short changed on our raises because
of the rising cost of health insurance.