How We Got Here
In early 2015, we began our efforts to organize with the Machinists Union for the right to negotiate our working conditions with BSC managers. We were looking for a real voice in the workplace over the issues most important to us – like wages, hours, and working conditions. We wanted fairness to be the rule, not the exception, and to have real protections on the job. During the two years leading up to the vote, management spent millions of dollars on their anti-union effort. This made it impossible for us to have an election free from intimidation and harassment. Unfortunately, their efforts prevailed and on February 15, 2017, many workers who had expressed interest in forming a union changed their minds. For months we were bombarded with scare tactics and promises from management things would be better. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. On May 31, 2018, our co-workers on the flight line voted overwhelmingly for IAM representation. The majority of the flight line workers have been in unions and understand the value, benefits, and protections that come with collective bargaining. Sadly, Boeing used its political influence and power to strip those workers of their right to collective bargaining. That means any future attempts at BSC to form a union is everybody or nobody. Coming out of the pandemic, working people across the country are organizing like never before. They are mobilizing for a better life and gaining a better return on their work through collective bargaining. Don’t we deserve the same?
