chimx
25th August 2008, 03:53
I just got back from a great machinists rally today. Hundreds of workers showed up to rally behind their union just before contract negotiations will end in a final vote. As of now things are looking pretty grim for an agreement to be made by next week. Boeing is trying to strip employees of their pension and replacing it with a weaker 401k, new hires are being kept at substandard wages, and there is also the fear of outsourcing.
Just last month 15,000 members of the local had voted to authorize a strike by a margin of 99%. While I didn't get to that rally, from what people tell me, thousands of people were chanting for a strike, and now that time is almost up to settle on a new contract, it seems as if the members aren't interested in backing down. 6 times today rallying workers spontaneously started chanting "strike! strike! strike!" as we all marched down the street to a local park. It was definitely inspiring stuff to see organized labor stand up for what is right.
I was there with Socialist Alternative, showing solidarity for Boeing machinists. We chatted with lots of folk about the current contract negotiations, the future of organized labor, etc. I had brought my camera to take some photos for y'all, but my batteries turned out to be dead. However, you can follow this website which has a video of parts of the rally:
http://www.nwcn.com/video/index.html?nvid=275686
Just last month 15,000 members of the local had voted to authorize a strike by a margin of 99%. While I didn't get to that rally, from what people tell me, thousands of people were chanting for a strike, and now that time is almost up to settle on a new contract, it seems as if the members aren't interested in backing down. 6 times today rallying workers spontaneously started chanting "strike! strike! strike!" as we all marched down the street to a local park. It was definitely inspiring stuff to see organized labor stand up for what is right.
I was there with Socialist Alternative, showing solidarity for Boeing machinists. We chatted with lots of folk about the current contract negotiations, the future of organized labor, etc. I had brought my camera to take some photos for y'all, but my batteries turned out to be dead. However, you can follow this website which has a video of parts of the rally:
http://www.nwcn.com/video/index.html?nvid=275686