EVERETT—Jay, a Boeing machinist in his mid-20s, is currently on strike alongside roughly 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) 751 & W24. In a conversation with the Lynnwood Times, he discussed the effects of the strike on his finances and academic goals, as well as what he and his fellow machinists hope to achieve through collective action. He also shared exclusive details on internal labor conflict at Boeing’s Everett facility between union members and non-union managerial staff.
“The people working in corporate, they look down on us like ants,” said Jay.
Jay has worked at Boeing’s Everett Facility for close to two years; his current role involves fabricating materials for plane wings and airframes. Like the vast majority of his fellow union members, Jay voted against both deals offered by Boeing thus far. His reasoning was similar to what fellow IAM-751 member Davon Smith shared in an interview with BBC: “28 an hour pay isn’t enough to get by.”
Jay noted, however, “I actually make $23 an hour… more than my last job, but too little for risking my safety at work.” Boeing assembly plants have previously been investigated for allegedly unsatisfactory working conditions, and Boeing was fined in 2012 in relation to severe workplace injuries in its Puget Sound facilities.
The IAM strike, which began on September 13, has now been ongoing for more than a month. Healthcare benefits for striking employees were revoked on September 30, a move strongly criticized by union representatives, striking machinists, and supporters, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
In Jay’s case, his family’s health insurance plan will cover him until he turns 25. However, the cancellation of another benefit has placed him in a difficult financial situation.
Both IAM-751 and Boeing include educational benefits as part of their employment plans; an attractive bonus to younger employees who plan to achieve a degree or certification. Boeing’s “Learning Together Program” (LTP) specifically is ideal for college-enrolled employees, covering tuition and other academic fees through a reimbursement program (under the condition that employees must pass their classes to be reimbursed). Jay cited LTP as a greatly beneficial resource for working students.
However, striking machinists are currently ineligible for this benefit. Per Boeing’s website, “Only employees who have started a course prior to the strike may complete the course through the LTP.”
Jay is a student at Edmonds College, hoping to earn a two-year Associate’s degree. “I’m on my last $1,000 in my savings now, I wasn’t really ready for the extra expenses,” he laughed nervously. “But Boeing isn’t gonna pay for anything until we sign the contract.”
As a proud union member and proponent of workers’ rights, financial instability has put Jay in a conflicted position. “I want to get back to work. Having a job, having something stable is so important… but we need a deal that works for us all. Not just in Everett, but all over.”
An upcoming vote on October 23 will determine whether the machinists will resume work this month, or if the strike will continue through November. This revised version of Boeing’s contract includes the following:
- A 35% pay increase (up from 30%) over four years
- An increase of $1,000 to $7,000 as a contract ratification bonus
- A guaranteed minimum 4% AMPP annual bonus
- A one-time $5,000 contribution to an employee’s Boeing 401(k) account, plus a Boeing 401(k) match increased to 100% of the first 8% of pay, plus auto 4% Company Contribution. The one-time Company Contribution will be contributed on behalf of each eligible employee no later than 30 days following ratification of the agreement.
Compared to the last Boeing offer, the response from union leadership has been more favorable. “With the help of Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, we have received a negotiated proposal and resolution to end the strike, and it warrants presenting to the members and is worthy of your consideration,” IAM 751 wrote on X.
Due to this, several national media outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, have run optimistic headlines, already describing the new contract as a potential strike-ender.
But some machinists aren’t so sure. “Hell no,” Jay responded when asked how he would vote. “We want something better… I’ve seen people get hurt. We’re risking our lives to make planes. I’m not gonna risk my life for that [deal].”
With the possibility of a strike extending into winter, Jay could find himself paying out-of-pocket tuition for his next academic quarter as well. Though he has considered other employment, such as working in roofing, he shared his concern that a second job might affect his standing at Boeing. “They don’t like you applying to any other jobs… and that’s what we heard from HR,” he claimed.
In general, Jay expressed mistrust of Boeing’s corporate and administrative divisions. “They’re bipolar, they don’t really keep their word.” Painting a picture of his factory’s labor politics, he explained, “Managers aren’t in the union… They want to catch you on your phone or catch you talking too much with coworkers. Union stewards [representatives] will defend you from little stuff like that.” Non-union employees do not have access to stewarded representation, and are thus more vulnerable to managerial action.
Boeing’s disciplinary procedure is known as the Employee Corrective Action Process Requirements (ECAPR). An employee caught in violation would be issued a Corrective Action Memo, or “CAM” for short: a black mark on an employee’s record that could lead to future termination.
Even within the union, friendship is a luxury not all can afford. “Some coworker could come off nice, like they’re your friend… and they could end up a rat,” Jay shrugged. “During downtime [periods when the assembly line is inactive] we might be on our phones too much, or talk to each other too much. There’s people who would rat on you to try and get you a CAM, just so they can kiss ass with corporate.”
Despite this tension, Jay stated that he felt his union was a “family,” and that he would support his fellow machinists no matter the outcome of the October 23 vote.
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I agree with Jay and it’s far worse than that. I was injured on the plane where they would put paper over missing structure on the wings when we’re masking for paint and while I was done with my job I offered to help another team finish theirs. In doing so nobody said anything about the holes. The missing structure and I walked right through the paper, breaking my neck, breaking my shoulder and herniating. Several discs in my lower back had to have neck surgery and go through years worth of physical therapy because Boeing’s ime said I wasn’t healed enough yet and I just wanted to work. I had transferred two different area and really liked it there. I had a problem with my old manager due to I didn’t want to go back to the plane because my injuries weren’t healed yet. So that’s why I transferred to a whole different area at the other end of the plant. That manager transferred a couple years later into my new area. Somehow the guy became a second level and hired in a manager from my old area and I got nothing but harassed the whole time for about about a year. I have diabetes and it got really bad for me and I was sick. I wound up taking a leave of absence and was in a diabetic coma brain fog. I just simply couldn’t function. My A1C was super high is at 15.9. my numbers were and they said I should be at 7 The doctor said that I should not even had been alive in the second that I felt even a little bit better and I wasn’t even 50% better but I wanted to go back to work. I called to get my computers turned back on in my ETS and I was informed that I was terminated as of 5 days prior to that because I was supposed to be back to work on that date and I had been calling every single day. They said that I was aol had been in contact and so I was terminated after 13 years of working there. They said no call, no show and there’s no excuses. But yet I was sick and thought I was dying. The union said there’s nothing they can do because the small window that they can help me and was was already up. I had phone logs showing that I had called nearly every day to get a hold of him and then my my phone had gotten shut off during a time period where I was waiting on my new phone I was using my son’s phone and I never got no return calls but I was in contact with them and when it comes down to it they said his manager’s discretion and the manager had no problem terminating someone who’s been there for so long for the second level. He was headhunting me from day one. He got there all over a disagreement 3 years prior. Lot of politics go on at that plant. I lost my pension, my medical everything and my daughter had just started her first year at Washington State University. At Boeing you’re really just a number. They don’t care about your health. They don’t care about you as a person. Your family and they do this to people all the time. I can’t go back painting outside of Boeing because of my injury was so severe. I can’t do that anymore for a living because all safety rules are written in blood at Boeing. They wait till it happens to several people before they make a rule for the safety of others. I did everything by the rule. Never getting in trouble until that one moment. Where apparently I just didn’t read the paperwork right on my return date but I was severely sick and I didn’t even get a termination letter until one month after my termination lost my pension and everything. So they need to do something about management and just giving a s*** about people cuz a lot of us there love our jobs and I’m still not 100% back health-wise and it’s been one year out of work. Savings is finally running out. Not sure what the hell to do. Thanks Boeing thanks, Union.
Boeing management is TRASH!