Machinists Union Local Lodge 735 blog, Nashville, TN. Nearly 1000 members strong at Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. in Nashville TN.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
57-day strike at Boeing ends
Machinists in Wichita, KS, Portland, OR and Seattle, WA voted by 74% to ratify the contract proposal. Of course, this was yet another big Aerospace win for the Machinists.
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Vought asked us to compare their proposal to the package the IAM-represented employees at Hawker Beechcraft. I wish they would compare their proposal with the Boeing contract. Go to the Boeing web page and check it out. Stand Strong.
Maybe vought will learn a little and follow boeings lead. A corporation has to make money in order to stay in business and keep us working. Problem is most want to keep making record profits and not take their employees with them. Pretty simple really keep your people happy and they will produce and continue to make you money. When Cessna came and gave their presentation part of it was about the work force (read vought employees) being smart and hard working. They may go out and get the contracts but it's based on what we do and how well we do it. Come on maxie and the rest of you we don't want all your money. We want some of what we've helped earn the company. Treat your people well and it will be returned many times over. Since 2004 it's been a kick in the ass every time we turned around. It's your employee base that you forced out that has kept this site open and running and makeing money, by your own admission. Treat us fairly and we'll go back to work and as we always have make you money. We don't want to be out 57 days or 67 or 97. Make no mistake we will. You guys need to have a come to JESUS meeting and get this thing done. Until you do I'll be out on the line every Sunday night. Won't cha stop by and say HEY!!
Allright Maxie,take your head out of where the sun don't shine and negotiate a FAIR offer so my PROUD brothers & sisters can go back to work. YOU WILL NOT DEVIDE OR BREAK THIS UNION !!! STAND PROUD & STRONG 735!!!
Congratulation to our brothers and sisters at Boeing. This is good news!
We have all made sacrifices during this difficult time, and I want to express my appreciation to our negotiating committee and each of you, my sisters and brothers, for the solidarity that’s been shown throughout this strike so far.
I started working at this company when I was 19 years old. After a few years, I quit in order to continue my education. After college, I came was rehired and have been back for 27 ½ years. In all that time, this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of solidarity. It has been what was needed over the years, but few of us wanted to make the sacrifice, and that is understandable.
However, during this difficult economic time, we have chosen to make that sacrifice, and our actions have spoken loudly across the entire world. Together, we have done our parts to make unions stronger than they have been in a very long time. When I read the letters that were posted from Labor Unions across the world, I can’t express how my heart soared. I realized at that point that the world is watching us and our brothers and sisters across the entire face of the earth are standing with us as we walk the picket lines.
I have been blessed during this strike. I have learned a lot about the way I spend money. I have learned that I have wasted a great deal in the past. The minute I found out that we were going on strike, my wife and I sat down and went over our budget. We decided what we could pay for and what we could do without. We deferred school loans, called to remove all extra features off our phone and cable, cut down on our water and electricity usage, started buying groceries and gas at discount places, began entertaining ourselves in ways that did not require money or gas with the result of making our family closer, sold things we didn’t want or need on e-bay, and all sorts of things we had never thought of doing before. And the best part is, we have not been late on anything, had to withdraw more than $500 from our emergency fund, or hurt our credit in any way.
We discovered that we could not only live on less, but that we actually didn’t miss many any of the things we had given up. We have decided not to go back to the “old way” when this strike is over. We like the idea of not wasting, and we’ve decided to incorporate many other money-saving techniques in the future. The money we save will go into our emergency fund.
One important thing that occurred to me this morning is that, if the negotiations go well in a couple of weeks, that will mean that in three years, our contract will expire a week or two before Thanksgiving, and if we do not reach an agreement, we will be striking over the holidays. At first, this seemed like a negative thing to me, but then I realized that if I started saving my money now, I can have 6 months worth of income saved up in three years and can travel or whatever I choose to do during my unexpected “vacation” from work.
For me personally, it will take putting back $109.00 per week. At the end of three years, I will have a little more than $17,000. For me, that equals what I’m presently making in 6 months without overtime. Now, I don’t want to go on strike in three years. I enjoy working, and I truly like the work I do and the people I work with. But I don’t know what the future holds, and I’m bound and determined to hope for the best while I plan for the worst.
"VICTORY" Yeah thats what (I AM) talking about! You done it, standing strong and standing together is what led to you all winning this contract. To my brothers and sisters LOCAL 735 it was their time to win and it is our time! Let's stay strong and show the company that we are here for the long haul. We can and will win a good contract, and everyone will hold their heads high going back to work! But for now the company is trying to see what we are made of. The longer we are out it is putting strain on the company. In short a better contract for us!!! Everyone let's plan on having a CHRISTMAS TREE by the greedy pig (lol), for real! Love you all! LOCAL 735 HOORAA!
Dave Ramsey would be proud of you. Maybe when this all ends you should lead a "Finacial Peace" class for all Vought employees and then you really will be ready in a few years. Proverbs 22:7- The borrower is SLAVE to the lender!
I just read the the blog from Mr Cliff Bennett who is going to put away $109.00 a week for the next three years and will have $17,000 for himself.Just think if that money was put into a 401k and the company was matching up to six percent how much more you would have for yourself.
One of the biggest problems with the 401(k) is that most people don’t understand them. I don’t understand them either. I don’t know how to invest in the stock market and frankly; I really don’t want to learn that. I have other things I want to do.
Here is what I think I know. The stock market goes up and down all the time. Sometimes it will be going up in one place and going down in another. But eventually the whole thing grows over time. That is why you want to invest in different types of stocks; you don’t want to put all your eggs in to one basket.
I don’t know how to do that. I can, however, split a hair 3 ways on a CNC mill using the Cartesian coordinate system but I rely on the programming department to write the G-Code. Yeah, I could be a programmer if I wanted, just as I could be a stock market annalist but I can’t be everything. I do better if I focus on one thing and focus on doing that one thing really well.
I like the option of having the 401(k) but I really don’t want to manage it. I like having insurance too but I don’t want to manage the reimbersment plan through PayFlex. I have weeks worth of work to do right now just to get the money I have spent on a bunch of medical bill back.
Speaking of 401(k)s, I could be wrong about this, so correct me if I am, but from what I understand, you can't just cash in a 401(k) with out paying penalties. I think you can borrow on it but if you get layed off or quit or maybe even “go on strike”, those loans are called in, and so usually in that case, you have to cash in your 401(k) to pay off the loan(s).
If you cash in an investment like a 401(k), I think you pay a 10% penalty and all the taxes at one time. That could be as much as 40% alltogether. In that case, you would be much better off to have been saving your money in a coffee can.
I’d like to request that if we end up with a 401(k), that we form a committee to study it and then educate us on how to use it. I think we need to be educated on the medical insurance too. I went for years paying all my medical bill out of my PayFlex account because I didn’t understand how to use the insurance. After almost 5 years, I'm still learning.
Yeah, if he would have put all of that into a 401K, he might have ended up with $7K or $10k.....oh....what was that? $17K just by banking it.....uh oh.........
Looks like Maxie and some of his buddies are reading and posting on our union blog page because there were some snipes made to Cliff Bennett and his post from a couple of anonymous posts.
The IAM win at Boeing set a precedence for us, just as we would have been setting a precedence for them if we had gone back to work before them.
We are skilled workers who don’t have to work at Vought. In fact, many of us have already fallen in to other jobs.
The only reason Vought is such a good place to work is because of the Union members who stand their ground. If it were not for the strong Union that we have, Vought would be no better than any other place.
just a response to the comment about the 401k and cliff bennett, if you put money into a 401k , with a match and take it out in three years your going to be penalize as well as taxed providing that the stock market has recouped. you'd be better to put into a high interest savings account were you will not to penalized for taking it out. 401k are long term not to be used a emergency or a pension
Your correct about whom it seems is posting on this Blog sometimes!As far as the continued comments about the 401k , allow me to give an example of how disaterous this would be to my better half. 10 yrs of service, 62 yrs. old and would like to retire at 65 or 66.What in the world are you going to accumulate in that short of a time that will carry you through your retirement yrs.?Froze at 43 times 10 = 430.00 ,then a supplement ins. plan to go with your medicare that's over 500.00 a month so that they don't take your home to pay your medical bills if you get sick ? Your already going backwards just on your ins.The 401 will really help this ?? How much and how long do you think that will last? EVERYONE, not just her needs a garanteed amount that they will receive the rest of their life so you can plan accordingly , not a guess on how much based on the market!!Besides,anyone that was hired after 89 , there is no retirement ins. for these people. It has been an on going TAKE AWAY by the company and it MUST END !This company has not took care of the ones that spent their lifes in this place making the company money , Hourly or Salary !
Retired 25, This company needs supervisors/managers like you in the worst way at this time. I for one remember and was dismayed the day you were "Retired," B.S. Hey, I just made a batch of beef jerky and would like to get you some...
Anon ! Thanks for your nice comment . You can't imagine have good it makes me feel that alot of you always trusted and beleived in me even though you might not have agreed with me all the time but you knew in my heart , I believed I was doing the right thing for you and the company .None of you will ever know how much I hated to leave that way without saying bye to ALL of you but I just couldn't do it!!!ALL the Nashville employees ( No matter the name of the company )had been my life for so many years and to see what's happening to you now and the plant really hurts.Some of the OLD TEMPER boils back up !My time has pasted but IAM 735 is stronger TODAY than I've seen it in a LONG TIME and you can win this in a way that all of you can go back with your heads high so STAND STRONG and don't get down because that's what they want you to do !Don't bicker between yourselfs and stand together! You've got everything in your favor this time plus some great people supporting you! P.S. I would love to have some of that jerky!I think you know how to get it to me ! Thanks again !
17 comments:
Vought asked us to compare their proposal to the package the IAM-represented employees at Hawker Beechcraft. I wish they would compare their proposal with the Boeing contract. Go to the Boeing web page and check it out. Stand Strong.
Maybe vought will learn a little and follow boeings lead. A corporation has to make money in order to stay in business and keep us working. Problem is most want to keep making record profits and not take their employees with them.
Pretty simple really keep your people happy and they will produce and continue to make you money. When Cessna came and gave their presentation part of it was about the work force (read vought employees) being smart and hard working. They may go out and get the contracts but it's based on what we do and how well we do it.
Come on maxie and the rest of you we don't want all your money. We want some of what we've helped earn the company. Treat your people well and it will be returned many times over. Since 2004 it's been a kick in the ass every time we turned around. It's your employee base that you forced out that has kept this site open and running and makeing money, by your own admission.
Treat us fairly and we'll go back to work and as we always have make you money.
We don't want to be out 57 days or 67 or 97. Make no mistake we will. You guys need to have a come to JESUS meeting and get this thing done. Until you do I'll be out on the line every Sunday night. Won't cha stop by and say HEY!!
Allright Maxie,take your head out of where the sun don't shine and negotiate a FAIR offer so my PROUD brothers & sisters can go back to work. YOU WILL NOT DEVIDE OR BREAK THIS UNION !!! STAND PROUD & STRONG 735!!!
Congratulation to our brothers and sisters at Boeing. This is good news!
We have all made sacrifices during this difficult time, and I want to express my appreciation to our negotiating committee and each of you, my sisters and brothers, for the solidarity that’s been shown throughout this strike so far.
I started working at this company when I was 19 years old. After a few years, I quit in order to continue my education. After college, I came was rehired and have been back for 27 ½ years. In all that time, this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of solidarity. It has been what was needed over the years, but few of us wanted to make the sacrifice, and that is understandable.
However, during this difficult economic time, we have chosen to make that sacrifice, and our actions have spoken loudly across the entire world. Together, we have done our parts to make unions stronger than they have been in a very long time. When I read the letters that were posted from Labor Unions across the world, I can’t express how my heart soared. I realized at that point that the world is watching us and our brothers and sisters across the entire face of the earth are standing with us as we walk the picket lines.
I have been blessed during this strike. I have learned a lot about the way I spend money. I have learned that I have wasted a great deal in the past. The minute I found out that we were going on strike, my wife and I sat down and went over our budget. We decided what we could pay for and what we could do without. We deferred school loans, called to remove all extra features off our phone and cable, cut down on our water and electricity usage, started buying groceries and gas at discount places, began entertaining ourselves in ways that did not require money or gas with the result of making our family closer, sold things we didn’t want or need on e-bay, and all sorts of things we had never thought of doing before. And the best part is, we have not been late on anything, had to withdraw more than $500 from our emergency fund, or hurt our credit in any way.
We discovered that we could not only live on less, but that we actually didn’t miss many any of the things we had given up. We have decided not to go back to the “old way” when this strike is over. We like the idea of not wasting, and we’ve decided to incorporate many other money-saving techniques in the future. The money we save will go into our emergency fund.
One important thing that occurred to me this morning is that, if the negotiations go well in a couple of weeks, that will mean that in three years, our contract will expire a week or two before Thanksgiving, and if we do not reach an agreement, we will be striking over the holidays. At first, this seemed like a negative thing to me, but then I realized that if I started saving my money now, I can have 6 months worth of income saved up in three years and can travel or whatever I choose to do during my unexpected “vacation” from work.
For me personally, it will take putting back $109.00 per week. At the end of three years, I will have a little more than $17,000. For me, that equals what I’m presently making in 6 months without overtime. Now, I don’t want to go on strike in three years. I enjoy working, and I truly like the work I do and the people I work with. But I don’t know what the future holds, and I’m bound and determined to hope for the best while I plan for the worst.
I just wanted to share these thoughts with you.
Cliff Bennett
noticed vought hasnt updated their counter by subtracting the 3 mil rat. bonus.
"VICTORY" Yeah thats what (I AM) talking about! You done it, standing strong and standing together is what led to you all winning this contract. To my brothers and sisters LOCAL 735 it was their time to win and it is our time! Let's stay strong and show the company that we are here for the long haul. We can and will win a good contract, and everyone will hold their heads high going back to work! But for now the company is trying to see what we are made of. The longer we are out it is putting strain on the company. In short a better contract for us!!! Everyone let's plan on having a CHRISTMAS TREE by the greedy pig (lol), for real! Love you all! LOCAL 735 HOORAA!
congrats to all the boeing workers and their families. lets hope we meet the same fate.
Cliff,
Dave Ramsey would be proud of you.
Maybe when this all ends you should lead a "Finacial Peace" class for all Vought employees and then you really will be ready in a few years.
Proverbs 22:7-
The borrower is SLAVE to the lender!
I just read the the blog from Mr Cliff Bennett who is going to put away $109.00 a week for the next three years and will have $17,000 for himself.Just think if that money was put into a 401k and the company was matching up to six percent how much more you would have for yourself.
One of the biggest problems with the 401(k) is that most people don’t understand them. I don’t understand them either. I don’t know how to invest in the stock market and frankly; I really don’t want to learn that. I have other things I want to do.
Here is what I think I know. The stock market goes up and down all the time. Sometimes it will be going up in one place and going down in another. But eventually the whole thing grows over time. That is why you want to invest in different types of stocks; you don’t want to put all your eggs in to one basket.
I don’t know how to do that. I can, however, split a hair 3 ways on a CNC mill using the Cartesian coordinate system but I rely on the programming department to write the G-Code. Yeah, I could be a programmer if I wanted, just as I could be a stock market annalist but I can’t be everything. I do better if I focus on one thing and focus on doing that one thing really well.
I like the option of having the 401(k) but I really don’t want to manage it. I like having insurance too but I don’t want to manage the reimbersment plan through PayFlex. I have weeks worth of work to do right now just to get the money I have spent on a bunch of medical bill back.
Speaking of 401(k)s, I could be wrong about this, so correct me if I am, but from what I understand, you can't just cash in a 401(k) with out paying penalties. I think you can borrow on it but if you get layed off or quit or maybe even “go on strike”, those loans are called in, and so usually in that case, you have to cash in your 401(k) to pay off the loan(s).
If you cash in an investment like a 401(k), I think you pay a 10% penalty and all the taxes at one time. That could be as much as 40% alltogether. In that case, you would be much better off to have been saving your money in a coffee can.
I’d like to request that if we end up with a 401(k), that we form a committee to study it and then educate us on how to use it. I think we need to be educated on the medical insurance too. I went for years paying all my medical bill out of my PayFlex account because I didn’t understand how to use the insurance. After almost 5 years, I'm still learning.
Great post Cliff, IMHO
Yeah, if he would have put all of that into a 401K, he might have ended up with $7K or $10k.....oh....what was that? $17K just by banking it.....uh oh.........
Looks like Maxie and some of his buddies are reading and posting on our union blog page because there were some snipes made to Cliff Bennett and his post from a couple of anonymous posts.
The IAM win at Boeing set a precedence for us, just as we would have been setting a precedence for them if we had gone back to work before them.
We are skilled workers who don’t have to work at Vought. In fact, many of us have already fallen in to other jobs.
The only reason Vought is such a good place to work is because of the Union members who stand their ground. If it were not for the strong Union that we have, Vought would be no better than any other place.
just a response to the comment about the 401k and cliff bennett, if you put money into a 401k , with a match and take it out in three years your going to be penalize as well as taxed providing that the stock market has recouped. you'd be better to put into a high interest savings account were you will not to penalized for taking it out. 401k are long term not to be used a emergency or a pension
Your correct about whom it seems is posting on this Blog sometimes!As far as the continued comments about the 401k , allow me to give an example of how disaterous this would be to my better half. 10 yrs of service, 62 yrs. old and would like to retire at 65 or 66.What in the world are you going to accumulate in that short of a time that will carry you through your retirement yrs.?Froze at 43 times 10 = 430.00 ,then a supplement ins. plan to go with your medicare that's over 500.00 a month so that they don't take your home to pay your medical bills if you get sick ? Your already going backwards just on your ins.The 401 will really help this ?? How much and how long do you think that will last? EVERYONE, not just her needs a garanteed amount that they will receive the rest of their life so you can plan accordingly , not a guess on how much based on the market!!Besides,anyone that was hired after 89 , there is no retirement ins. for these people. It has been an on going TAKE AWAY by the company and it MUST END !This company has not took care of the ones that spent their lifes in this place making the company money , Hourly or Salary !
Retired 25,
This company needs supervisors/managers like you in the worst way at this time. I for one remember and was dismayed the day you were "Retired," B.S. Hey, I just made a batch of beef jerky and would like to get you some...
Anon ! Thanks for your nice comment . You can't imagine have good it makes me feel that alot of you always trusted and beleived in me even though you might not have agreed with me all the time but you knew in my heart , I believed I was doing the right thing for you and the company .None of you will ever know how much I hated to leave that way without saying bye to ALL of you but I just couldn't do it!!!ALL the Nashville employees ( No matter the name of the company )had been my life for so many years and to see what's happening to you now and the plant really hurts.Some of the OLD TEMPER boils back up !My time has pasted but IAM 735 is stronger TODAY than I've seen it in a LONG TIME and you can win this in a way that all of you can go back with your heads high so STAND STRONG and don't get down because that's what they want you to do !Don't bicker between yourselfs and stand together! You've got everything in your favor this time plus some great people supporting you! P.S. I would love to have some of that jerky!I think you know how to get it to me ! Thanks again !
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