Sunday, November 10, 2013

BOEING

► In today’s Seattle Times — Crucial Machinist contract vote likely to be close — The Legislature Saturday overwhelmingly passed a package of incentives meant to assure Boeing builds the 777X jet in Washington state, but the Machinists who’ll vote Wednesday on their piece of the company’s take-it-or-leave-it proposal face a more personal decision.

One 32-year-old Machinist at Boeing’s Auburn plant said all his co-workers are edgy and anxious, endlessly discussing what to do. He’s voting yes, to approve Boeing’s offer.

“It’s like I’m smiling while I’m being kicked in the balls,” he said. “But it’s better than being decapitated.”

The only union official authorized to talk about the proposed 8-year contract extension on Saturday predicted the vote will be close, and offered a strangely positive counterpoint to the fervent denunciation of the deal two days earlier by the Machinists’ local leader.

EDITOR’S NOTE — The Entire Staff of The Stand is on vacation this week.  (Hey! It was already postponed once!)  So the next full news update won’t appear until Monday, Nov. 18.  However, if anything particularly newsworthy should happen this week… we’ll get it posted, live from the lobby of an undisclosed hotel.