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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBoeing and the race to the bottom
http://seattletimes.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/2019082417_boeing_and_the_race_to_the_bot.html#.UEoQht8g3CU.twitterAs a manager, I supervised union employees for years. It's easy, especially with professionals. Unless, of course, you are determined to continue redistributing income from the middle class to the very rich while rubbing the union's face in it. And that appears to be Boeing's strategy in dealing with the Society of Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA). The savage spirit of Jack Welch is alive and well in Chicago.
There are two sides in any negotiation and it's impossible to know all the details and nuances unless you're sitting at the table. Still, based on the reporting of the Seattle Times' Dominic Gates, it seems Boeing wants to pick a fight with its engineers. Put them in their place. This is odd coming from a company that croaks so much about the value of "labor peace." Such peace requires two sides working together.
Boeing is offering only a 3 percent raise, down from the 5 percent won in 2008. Also, "a key Boeing proposal would switch new hires from the pension plan that current employees have to a 401(k)-type plan that SPEEA says will deliver up to 40 percent less upon retirement than the current Boeing pension." This from a company that posted $4 billion in profits and has a vast backlog of orders.
Boeing says it wants to prepare for future competition by reining in compensation. That would have more credibility if it started at the top. CEO James McNerney was given total compensation of $22.9 million in 2011. It's also bad strategy. The engineers and Boeing's historic -- but neglected after the McDonnell takeover -- engineering culture represent a massive competitive advantage. Smart management would want to invest in this culture, especially the people, rather that low-balling them. "No nerds, no birds," indeed.
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Boeing and the race to the bottom (Original Post)
xchrom
Sep 2012
OP
xchrom
(108,903 posts)1. I'll give this 1 kick. Nt
bhikkhu
(10,751 posts)2. Good union jobs and a 3% raise?
I've always admired the company (many friends and relatives having worked for Boeing), and I doubt that many there will feel themselves shortchanged, considering the times. Boeing is one of the best manufacturing companies in the world, and if they take a prudent path in expense control I still wish them well. Going 3% rather than 5% on wage increases is pretty darn far from what a Bain-style CEO would do!
Count on a Dem Centrist to sound just like a republican.
bhikkhu
(10,751 posts)4. Well, the political compass test thing still puts me in the "extreme left"!
this one http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
n2doc
(47,953 posts)6. I'll bet their health care costs are going up faster than that
So it ends up being a net loss in income. And you neglect to mention the 401k scam they are trying to implement, the one that results in a big drop in retirement (at best, probably).