Tennessee Machinists on Strike Over Pensions
September 27, 2008 - Nearly 1,000 Machinists began a strike at Vought Aircraft Industries in Nashville, TN, after voting by a large margin to reject an offer from the company that would have frozen the existing pension plan for employees with less than 16 years seniority and replace it with a risky 401(k) plan.
IAM members of Local 735 in Nashville, TN, assemble wing and tail structures for commercial and military aircraft customers, including Airbus, Gulfstream, Cessna and Lockheed Martin.
Additional demands in the proposal that triggered the strike included minimal wage increases, increased out-of-pocket health care costs for employees and work rules that ignored basic seniority principles.
Like Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita, KS, where Machinists union members recently concluded a successful strike, Vought is a highly successful aerospace company, with numerous contracts to fill and additional work on the way.
Despite Tennessee's status as a right-to-work (for less) state, the bargaining unit at Vought is keenly aware of the value of full membership, with more than 90 percent taking full advantage of their collective bargaining rights.
Additional information about the strike is available at www.iam735.blogspot.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
sitting outside the gate,that big ole plant sure looked awful empty,wonder how much it cost just to keep the lights on?
Well I am not for or against unions..
I am against a strike..
You have any idea on how bad the USA Economic structure is now?
When its over and you have
NO JOBS! NO INSURANCE! NO FUTURE!
Your making about 800.00 a paycheck now.
The Government is all about sending AMERICAN jobs to foreign soil.
All your doing is giving this company a reason to go!
SO to scabhata, laugh now, laugh away, when the dust settles your strike has done nothing to help you get more!
Your on the unemployment line begging for help,
your in a food line begging for food,
the company has moved to foreign soil and all workers even the “financial core” are standing in the help me lines..
YOU BROUGHT IT ALL ON YOURSELVES!!
NOW who is really going to win???
THE ECONOMIC LOSS TO THE COMMUNITY!
THE ECONOMIC LOSS TO THE UNION MEMBER!
(do you still make them pay union dues/fees while you strike)
THE ECONOMIC LOSS YOU THE COMPANY!
The strikers are not the only ones who are going to feel the effects..
Every person in the whole community who is on strike or married, involve to person on strike is going to be feeling it.
Every company who can not make a sale and loses revenue from the strike is going to feel it.
As much good as there could be, there is also a much worse that is going to happen first..
I really hope you know this!
I so much hope your really prepared to to lose it all for this?
The Sky is falling!
The Sky is falling!
The Sky is falling!
NO JOBS! NO INSURANCE! NO FUTURE!
Hold that thought. You make it sound like it was the Union members that caused this strike. You forget that we were all working under the former contract. This new contract takes benefits away. The company thought they could shove this contract down our throats. They thought we’d just roll over and take it. Well they were wrong. This company was making money and it was because of the workers. We have no desire to rape the company, we only want to be paid for what we have earned.
We have pulled this company out of the hole time after time. We’ve seen CEOs come in and scrape all the cream off the top and leave with BIG bonuses. We have seen upper management make mistake after mistake like when Vought bought us a few years ago and tried to take the work to Dallas. It cost us millions. That’s right. It cost us, the workers, millions; million that we had earned. And they expect us to bend over again! I’m through with all their lies and pleas for help. I’m through with their phantom bonuses. I’m through with their holier that thou attitudes. And I’m through pulling their ass out of the slinger.
They didn’t believe we would stand up for ourselves. They thought we were a bunch of weaklings. They thought we were scared to loose our jobs. They forgot that we still have our souls, where they only have deep black holes. I may be looking for a job today but at least I can hold my head up high and know that I AM not going to be a slave to a bunch of tyrants. I will not cower to a schoolyard bully like Maxi Garrett. And I will never honor the words from a turncoat like Randal * Davis who, as the union president, lead us in to our last strike 20 years ago and then turned his back on us as he his soul to management. Anything he says is dirt as far as I’m concerned. He even tried to sell us on the 401(k) as he bragged about his “$1/4 million”.
There will be jobs and there will be insurance and there will be futures, in spite of people like the ones we are dealing with in management. Right now, we’re just showing them what we’re made of and there are lines being drawn every day. We are separating the strong from the weak, the loyal from the cheat and the suck ups from the stand ups. Take a deep breath. Look around and ask yourself. Is Vought the only place in the world to find a job? Is your security rooted exclusively at Vought?
All we are doing right now is showing Vought what we are made of. So Man-Up and stop you quivering. Enjoy the adventure and set your eyes on a Greater Day when we can walk back in to work with a greater and newly earned respect from management because they will know just how important we really are. And maybe, just maybe they might remember for a fleeting moment that we are more than the mindless drones they think we are but rather Real People.
* dbl. D Dog
You know, persephone talks like he actually knows the aircraft industry and the union. Well, persephone, here's a little history lesson for you. They won't be moving Vought Nashville any time soon. Do you know why? It's because they already tried, and it was a dismal failure. You talk like every job is leaving the US. Wrong! Last time I checked, Airbus isn't even an American company, and yet the majority of their components are made in the US.
Also, you talk like we're a bunch of greedy self-destructive thugs too lazy to go out and find another job while on strike. Do we actually WANT to strike? No, no one in their right minds would WANT to. We are hard working, skilled individuals just like so many others out there. If you don't believe me, perhaps you should come visit our C-130 facility on a sunny July afternoon. With the climate control system Vought has put in there, it's a comfortable 115F there.
We only strike when conditions in a contract are unacceptable. When you have a company making the profits like the profits Vought made last year, you would like to see better benefits in your next contract. At the very least, you would like the contract to break even with the last contract.
You talk about us making $800 a week. That tells me you've been listening to the media too much. The truth is, I make a little more than half of that. Many others even make less than me. It's taken me 3 years to get to the wage I'm at right now and it will take at least another 6 years to reach the $800 you speak of.
You also assume I'm broke and financially weak. Not even close. Even though I don't make the $800 a week you assume I do, I am well off. Not because I'm a greedy union worker, but because I've been taught fiscal responsibility. I don't go out and blow my money every week. I chip away at what little debt I've built up since I've moved out on my own. I don't own a large house or a new car. I can live on $300 a week. I'm 28 years old and my credit score is somewhere around 780 right now. What's YOUR credit score? I've been preparing for this strike since January. You won't see me begging for food any time soon.
Now that I've cleared up any misinformation you may have about Vought and this strike, I'm going to go back to looking through the want ads. Perhaps I will go back into the IT industry. Hopefully those greedy non-union tech support people making $9 an hour haven't run all of the jobs off to India yet.
communicator said it right,, its the DIRTY RAT BASTARS at VOUGHT AIRCRAFT that caused us to strike,... Stay strong BROTHERS and SISTERS ... Don't pay any attention to persephone they don't understand that this STRIKE is about,.... God Bless You all.
persephone hit it right on the head in a previous post! A non union member against the strike...
"The Government is all about sending AMERICAN jobs to foreign soil."
Well persephone just remember you get what you pay for!
Sure they could send our jobs to China and get the job at half the cost. BUT LETS BE REAL THESE ARE AIRPLANES NOT KIDS TOYS YOU CAN DO A RECALL ON WHEN OOOOOPS IT WASN'T MADE RIGHT!
Were will you stand should one day come and the union is fighting for you to keep your job?
When the "dust settles" we will all be able to see a future worth looking at.
WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY OUR FUTURE....
A womans place is in her union!
While you might have taken what I said wrong.. this is my point.
Job cuts in September--159,000--were the most in five years. Most economists are betting that additional jobs are going to be cut in coming months as companies hunker down. Worried consumers are likely to cut spending, deepening the dismal cycle.
There's already a recession in the auto industry, for example, which accounts for a big chunk of Americans' economic activity. Sales in September plunged to the lowest levels in 15 years. Deep worries--and profit-crunching discounts--are spreading to other sectors of the retail economy, too.
Now with this affecting the auto industy you do not think that the aircraft industy is going to be feeling anything?
Banks have cut back on virtually every kind of loan to consumers, whether it's for cars, homes, vacations, or small credit-card purchases. One new government provision may help some homeowners who are at risk of defaulting, through a program that allows certain homeowners to renegotiate their loans with the bank. But it's not clear how effective that program will be.
Post a Comment