Vote No, Step Up the Strike!

Boeing’s new contract offer to striking District 751 Machinists is bullshit, and the only thing “worthy of your consideration” is how fast to throw it in the trash. Workers on the picket lines are clear: They demand a full pension, a 40 percent wage increase, full medical coverage, faster pay progressions, no probationary period and more. The offer provides none of this. Instead, Boeing is trying its best to divide the union. Having failed to buy off new hires with a signing bonus, the company is now trying to sweeten the pot a little to buy off senior workers. Rather than unite the union in a real struggle that could quickly get what Machinists need and start to turn things around for the entire working class, the union leadership is busy demobilizing the strike, while passing out surveys to figure out what they can get away with betraying.

The union leadership’s demoralizing strategy has just dragged this out when Boeing is a sitting duck for a knockout blow. The union tops want to hop in bed with the board of directors and subject workers to the cynical lies of Democratic Party politicians. They laud the “help” of Julie Su, who’s helped thwart every labor struggle of late, from UPS to longshore. At strike rallies, they showcase Maria Cantwell, who’s pressuring the union to settle. Despite what Holden says, the bosses’ politicians aren’t helping. They just want to restore labor peace before the strike messes up the election for Harris—a goal the IAM tops share. Some workers are thinking about voting “yes” because they don’t want to be kept out in the cold with nothing to show for it. But there is a way for Machinists to get a lot more a lot quicker!

Workers should tear up the contract, and escalate the strike to win! By building mass pickets that no scab dares cross, the union could quickly bring Boeing to its knees. There is massive support from area unions and the surrounding community. Workers should appeal to the ILWU and Teamsters to help cut off parts deliveries. IAM militants should work with the SPEEA engineers and Boeing-employed Teamsters to demand that those unions join the strike. The threat of layoffs looms large over all Boeing employees, and union leaders’ acceptance of no-strike clauses undermines the fight for jobs. The IAM strike is seriously weakened by allowing SPEEA and Teamsters to cross the picket line in the name of honoring contracts that Boeing violates whenever it wants.

Picket lines mean don’t cross, as every good unionist knows. The Machinists must fight to remove the no-strike clause from their contract, and the other Boeing unions must defy theirs so workers can truly stand together and fight back—one out, all out! A hard fight to put the unions in control at Boeing would beat back the company’s ability to retaliate and be a win for every worker in the region. To this end, area aerospace workers on furlough should be encouraged to help build the picket lines and be brought into the union if unorganized as part of a renewed organizing drive at Boeing’s non-union plants to counter jobs blackmail. This is all possible, but the IAM leadership won’t create a crisis for the bosses, especially in the lead-up to an election.

At the October 15 strike rally inside the Seattle hall, the IAM brass promoted the lie that workers can win by just being patient: “One day longer, one day stronger.” A group of Machinists, IAM 751 Mobilize!, called to turn the rally into an actual show of force and led some 250 workers and their supporters to reinforce a nearby picket line. This pointed to what workers who want to fight to win should be doing—stepping up to put the strike on a different course. The union needs a leadership committed to putting the workers in charge at the expense of the bosses.