Ok well tonight is my first shift walking the picket line and I will have to admit along with excitement there is fear of what to expect!
I love my job! How many can say that? It is something to be proud of. I will be the first to admit my job is not physically hard but it is a job of perfection. Not only the nation but the world puts their lives and lives of their family and friends in our hands as we put them thousands of miles in the air.
We are underpaid our insurance sucks Vought took away our over time perks and cut our pension.
How would the world feel if we gave them work to match our benefits? Would you then be so eager to jump on a plane the next time there was a birth of a grandchild or a wedding you just could not miss. Could you rely on the red eye to get you to your family in the hour of an emergency. How secure would you feel knowing that the planes we build fight to protect our country.
Times are hard. We are in a financial crisis. I walked away from bringing home 7 to 9 hundred dollars a week to make a mere 150 a week. Does this alone tell you how important these issues are to us? Imagine where we will be in three years when the next contract is ready to vote. After all that they are wanting to take from us even with the imposed 1.75 raise over 3 yrs I will be making less than I am now. I will be having to invest more for a retirement and the insurance alone with a 500 to 1000 deductible will eat everything up.
Yes you heard me right a 500 for single and 1000 for family deductible on health insurance. Do the math.....
EVERYONE SUPPORT LODGE 735 IAM.
I AM A MEMBER AND TONIGHT I WILL BE WALKING THE PICKET LINE.
Well said g-4. I too love my job and am proud to be a part of a company with a history as prestigeous as Vought's. All we want is whats fair. Trying to offer one group one thing while offering a different group something else is not in any way equality. Treat everyone the same, what one gets everyone gets. If the company wants us in line with Dallas then give us the same wages as Dallas. We are here and ready to listen to offers that are fair and equitable to all. I pray that someone at the senior managment level such as Mr. Doty finally recognizes our worth and corrects this oversight before both the company and its employees suffer longer than necessary. Thank You
I was there most of the day Sunday. The news people came back out that day and did a short interview with President Mike Worrell.
Maxi showed up for work just before that and was jeered by picketers. “Your wrong Maxi”, “How’s that hole in your soul, Maxi?”, “Go push some chips Maxi!” He couldn’t even look us in the eye.
I laughed at the sight of the new guards; they are wearing all black and they look militant with their britches tucked in to their boots; Way over the top. And Bless their little ole hearts; the have to stand at attention all day in the sun in those black clothes. Some of them tried to block the picketers from walking in front of cars going in and out of the plant and Mike Worrell called the police. Those guards can not interfere with our picket like.
President Mike Worrell also cautioned the picketer not to touch any of the cars crossing the picket line. We can walk back and forth across the entrance but we can not block traffic beyond the time it takes to cross in front of a car.
The only cars I saw coming or going Sunday was management. One car contained Big Sexy, Little Jack and a couple of others I couldn’t make out. They couldn’t look us in the eye either.
I heard reports that 2 scabs had crossed the picket line Monday. I don’t have their names yet but at least one of them was reported to be a worker from the GIV area.
I drove by the plant and blew my horn and waved, every chance I got. I stopped and talked with picketers for a while here and there. We waved at passing cars and tried to stay positive. Most of the people who drove by were friendly enough and some were very supportive.
I spent the day thinking about what type of work I will choose to do while on strike. It dawned on me that I might even like this new work better than Vought. So I’m looking forward to getting started this week drumming up business.
Vought should remember that we're skilled and experienced workers. That means we have options. Some comments were made by people on media web sites that if workers at Vought don’t like the company's offer then they should find somewhere else to work. Well duh! It’s not like I gotta go flip burgers or stock shelves at the local China-Mart.
And I don’t really have to worry about other people taking my place at Vought, I mean, you’ve got to have more than a GED to build airplane wings. Most people think we run an assembly line. Most of those people probably don't even know how to read a ruler, much less know how to hold tolerances or edit g-code. Just ask someone to convert millimeters in too inches and express it in thousandths. I have even seen the dear in the headlights stair when asking people how many thousandths there are in an inch! And then you get that real slow shrug of the shoulders and the tilt of the head with the question, “a thousand?”.
I also really enjoyed spending time with my family today. Some of the guys from work and I are planning a camping trip. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family. And I’m looking forward to doing some other work for a while too.
I am on strike with the IAM against Boeing in Portland, Oregon.
Boeing must have gotten the same advice from the same bunch of "labor consultants" as Vought. Divide and conquer, fear, small print they think we are too dumb to read, etc.
We tossed it back in their lap, just as you have.
Every union member in this country should admire what you are doing in a "right to work" state.
8 comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbWRfBZY-ng
Good listen, just copy and paste.
We got em stand strong
Ok well tonight is my first shift walking the picket line and I will have to admit along with excitement there is fear of what to expect!
I love my job! How many can say that? It is something to be proud of. I will be the first to admit my job is not physically hard but it is a job of perfection. Not only the nation but the world puts their lives and lives of their family and friends in our hands as we put them thousands of miles in the air.
We are underpaid our insurance sucks Vought took away our over time perks and cut our pension.
How would the world feel if we gave them work to match our benefits? Would you then be so eager to jump on a plane the next time there was a birth of a grandchild or a wedding you just could not miss. Could you rely on the red eye to get you to your family in the hour of an emergency. How secure would you feel knowing that the planes we build fight to protect our country.
Times are hard. We are in a financial crisis. I walked away from bringing home 7 to 9 hundred dollars a week to make a mere 150 a week. Does this alone tell you how important these issues are to us? Imagine where we will be in three years when the next contract is ready to vote. After all that they are wanting to take from us even with the imposed 1.75 raise over 3 yrs I will be making less than I am now. I will be having to invest more for a retirement and the insurance alone with a 500 to 1000 deductible will eat everything up.
Yes you heard me right a 500 for single and 1000 for family deductible on health insurance. Do the math.....
EVERYONE SUPPORT LODGE 735 IAM.
I AM A MEMBER AND TONIGHT I WILL BE WALKING THE PICKET LINE.
Well said g-4. I too love my job and am proud to be a part of a company with a history as prestigeous as Vought's. All we want is whats fair. Trying to offer one group one thing while offering a different group something else is not in any way equality. Treat everyone the same, what one gets everyone gets. If the company wants us in line with Dallas then give us the same wages as Dallas. We are here and ready to listen to offers that are fair and equitable to all. I pray that someone at the senior managment level such as Mr. Doty finally recognizes our worth and corrects this oversight before both the company and its employees suffer longer than necessary. Thank You
I was there most of the day Sunday. The news people came back out that day and did a short interview with President Mike Worrell.
Maxi showed up for work just before that and was jeered by picketers. “Your wrong Maxi”, “How’s that hole in your soul, Maxi?”, “Go push some chips Maxi!” He couldn’t even look us in the eye.
I laughed at the sight of the new guards; they are wearing all black and they look militant with their britches tucked in to their boots; Way over the top. And Bless their little ole hearts; the have to stand at attention all day in the sun in those black clothes. Some of them tried to block the picketers from walking in front of cars going in and out of the plant and Mike Worrell called the police. Those guards can not interfere with our picket like.
President Mike Worrell also cautioned the picketer not to touch any of the cars crossing the picket line. We can walk back and forth across the entrance but we can not block traffic beyond the time it takes to cross in front of a car.
The only cars I saw coming or going Sunday was management. One car contained Big Sexy, Little Jack and a couple of others I couldn’t make out. They couldn’t look us in the eye either.
I heard reports that 2 scabs had crossed the picket line Monday. I don’t have their names yet but at least one of them was reported to be a worker from the GIV area.
I drove by the plant and blew my horn and waved, every chance I got. I stopped and talked with picketers for a while here and there. We waved at passing cars and tried to stay positive. Most of the people who drove by were friendly enough and some were very supportive.
I spent the day thinking about what type of work I will choose to do while on strike. It dawned on me that I might even like this new work better than Vought. So I’m looking forward to getting started this week drumming up business.
Vought should remember that we're skilled and experienced workers. That means we have options. Some comments were made by people on media web sites that if workers at Vought don’t like the company's offer then they should find somewhere else to work. Well duh! It’s not like I gotta go flip burgers or stock shelves at the local China-Mart.
And I don’t really have to worry about other people taking my place at Vought, I mean, you’ve got to have more than a GED to build airplane wings. Most people think we run an assembly line. Most of those people probably don't even know how to read a ruler, much less know how to hold tolerances or edit g-code. Just ask someone to convert millimeters in too inches and express it in thousandths. I have even seen the dear in the headlights stair when asking people how many thousandths there are in an inch! And then you get that real slow shrug of the shoulders and the tilt of the head with the question, “a thousand?”.
I also really enjoyed spending time with my family today. Some of the guys from work and I are planning a camping trip. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family. And I’m looking forward to doing some other work for a while too.
I am on strike with the IAM against Boeing in Portland, Oregon.
Boeing must have gotten the same advice from the same bunch of "labor consultants" as Vought. Divide and conquer, fear, small print they think we are too dumb to read, etc.
We tossed it back in their lap, just as you have.
Every union member in this country should admire what you are doing in a "right to work" state.
Stay strong, stay together!
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