Rally June 10 as Triumph lockout hits 1 month

SPOKANE –Union members and community supporters from around the state will be traveling to Spokane on Friday, June 10 for a One Equal Team rally alongside the locked-out employees of Triumph Composite Systems to mark the one-month anniversary of the labor dispute. The rally will be Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. on the west side of Triumph’s plant (U.S. Hwy 2 at South Lucas Drive). RSVP or get more information at the rally’s Facebook event page.

The Spokane Regional Labor Council and Washington Machinists Council are co-sponsoring the rally with Machinists District Lodge 751. IAM 751 has a bus leaving its Seattle Union Hall, 9135 15th Place S., at 7 a.m. Friday for anyone in the area who’d like to attend. As of this writing, there are about 20 seats available. Call 206-764-0335 to reserve a seat and box lunch.

Can’t make it? Show your support by making a contribution to support Machinists Union members who have been locked out at Triumph.

“We very much appreciate the support,” said IAM 751 President Jon Holden. “We’re fighting on behalf of everyone in Spokane, because every dollar Triumph takes away from our members is a dollar that doesn’t get spent at a local business, and a dollar that can’t go to support local services like good roads, schools or safe drinking water.”

On May 9, union members voted by 94 percent to reject the company’s “last and final” contract offer. After the votes were counted, Holden called Triumph Composites General Manager Pat Jones to inform him of the vote count and to offer to continue negotiations “anywhere at any time.”

Triumph responded on May 10 by sending second-shift workers home early and blocking third-shift workers from coming to work. That was the start of the current lockout.

Previously, on May 5, the union’s negotiating committee had asked for talks to continue, after receiving Triumph’s “last and final” offer. The company refused, which led to District 751 filing an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, because the company had stopped negotiations prematurely, before the two sides had reached an impasse.

ALSO at The Stand:

As Triumph dispute in Spokane drags on, you can help (June 2)