Thoughts on the SPEEA Contract

I've never been entirely sure how I feel about being in a union. But I'm in it no matter how I feel.

I have, however, no mixed feelings at all about the current contract - or more accurately Boeing's attitude towards negotiations. I'm reminded of a quote attributed to the Imperial Japanese shortly before WWII "How can we negotiate with you when you won't give us everything we want?"

Boeing told us the contract had 'market leading compensation'... and counted Wal Mart (no, I am NOT kidding) as one of the comparators. As someone who flies on commercial airplanes I'd hope that the engineers who designed them got a little better pay and benefits than people who stock shelves at a superstore. Yes, very evil-capitalist-1% of me. If Boeing had compared us to other aerospace companies and said we had better compensation than them I'd have considered that a highly valid and important point. As soon as you put Wal Mart into the calculation I no longer care what the output is.

Boeing told us it was a great contract with the subtext that it is a lousy economy and we should be happy to be getting anything... but while the economy is indeed lousy and likely to get worse over the next few years Boeing could have half its current orders cancelled, not get any more, and still be able to keep the production lines cranking at full tilt for years. Nor is the contract a great one. If Boeing had come out and said "look guys, the economy is likely to stay bad for years and we're really worried about keeping the company going thanks to our lousy business decisions on the 787 costing us a bundle - would you please take a bad contract now and we'll make it up to you next cycle? By the way we learned our lesson and we'll never run a program that way again?" I'd have been highly sympathetic.

The lion's share of the text of the contract is the same as the last one. So what's the big deal? Well, for one thing, Boeing inserted sentences in several places that essentially say "if this part of the contract ever conflicts with Boeing policy the policy wins." So if Boeing wants to completely rewrite the medical benefits in the middle of the contract (hey, they've never tried to do that before... oh wait they did) there's nothing we can do about it. Boeing has assured us that they "have no plans" to do that. Hey look! A promise that means nothing, since even if they were telling the truth it wouldn't stop them from making plans the day after we sign. For all the force those sections have they might as well be removed entirely.

The US is still involved in the longest running large-scale combat deployment in its history (but we'll be pulling out Real Soon Now! Hey, didn't I hear that four years ago...?). So now is a GREAT time to cut medical benefits for employees on Military Leave - which, for those of you not familiar with the term, has nothing to do with vacation. It means you're a reservist or national guardsman doing your annual active duty requirement or, and here's the reason Boeing's trying to cut benefits, you've been activated to be, say, sent overseas to a war zone in all but name for the 3rd time. Sure, I expect that's costing Boeing a bundle - both in lost work hours and in extra medical claims. I have zero sympathy for the company here. I'd have voted to reject the contract if this was the only thing in it I didn't like. As it is this is just the icing on the cake.

The one piece of good news? The other members of SPEEA agree with me in general even if not in all particulars. Of 21,842 ballots issued (i.e. eligible votes) 15,097 voted to reject - over 69%. Impressive enough by itself, but note that, as is sadly typical in this country, not everyone voted. A hair under 72% did. So over 96% of the votes cast were to reject.

I hope this makes Boeing sit up, pay attention, and either start negotiating in good faith or strip out the offending parts of their proposal (salary pools that beat inflation would be nice, but I don't insist on it). Because I'm as ambivalent about striking as I am about being in a union in the first place... but to preserve medical benefits for men and women in uniform I'll cheerfully walk a picket line.