Editor“…I’ve seen first-hand the damage to teammates, families, local communities, and businesses caused by strikes and labor disputes, and the divisivenes…”
The back and forth rhetoric between the Machinists union, which has been trying to unionize Boeing’s workers in North Charleston, SC for several years, and Boeing (BSC) heated up again earlier this week.
On Facebook, the Machinists union’s lead organizer, Mike Evans, posted a copy of a letter from Beverly Wyse, Boeing’s vice president and general manager of BSC, that was sent to BSC employee.
Wyse’s letter to BSC employees (at right) mentions how the union is, once again, contacting employees at home, reminds employees about union promises, as well as explains the NLRB’s new procedures for electronic signatures, before ending with an encouragement to employees not to “sign your rights away to the Machinnists.”
The Machinists’ Evans begins his Facebook “reply” with somewhat of a taunt by bringing up Wyse’s family: “It’s my understanding that you came from a union family.”
Evans then goes on to spin the Boeing executive’s experience working with the company’s unionized workforce in Puget Sound before asking: “I would ask that you refrain from the use of scare tactics…”
While not responding directly to the union, Wyse responded to the union’s taunting Facebook tactic by communicating directly to BSC employees (posted also on Facebook) and strongly disassembled the union’s misleading spin on her original letter:
There’s nothing more important to me than trust in relationships with my teammates. That trust is based on truthful and complete information, as well as whether my actions follow my words. The IAM is correct that I have worked with unions and represented workers for many years in Washington state, and that my parents, now both deceased, were union members. That was decades ago. I’ve seen first-hand the damage to teammates, families, local communities, and businesses caused by strikes and labor disputes, and the divisiveness that develops when teammates are not free to work directly with their management. The IAM likes to label factually accurate communications as “scare tactics”, simply because they expose the reality of that damage – just as they have in their recent letter.
I have no interest in scare tactics. That is not who I am. But I will openly share the risks and concerns and correct what I believe to be misrepresentations. The IAM’s history and how they have conducted themselves is relevant. We will continue to share facts and let those facts speak for themselves. It is a fact that the IAM took over 126,000 of its members out on strike between 2004 and 2014, resulting in a deep division in the impacted communities and often doing great harm to the very businesses that sustain those jobs. It is a fact that the IAM used the NLRB to try to keep our teammates from having jobs in South Carolina. It is also a fact that the IAM didn’t believe our South Carolina teammates had the skills to make the site the success it is today. Sharing these facts is not a “scare tactic”. I can understand why Mike Evans and the IAM team would not want these facts highlighted. I believe you deserve all the relevant information to make an informed decision.
The IAM indicated they have decided to stop their home visits and to respect the sanctity of our teammates’ homes. That is good. I heard from many teammates that they viewed those visits as an unwanted intrusion.
The IAM is well aware that comparing wages and benefits in two very different locations is not relevant. Yet, they continue to compare our teammates’ wages to the Seattle market some 3,000 miles away, in an attempt to make you angry with the company and create unrealistic expectations. The facts show our teammates are some of the most well-compensated manufacturing employees in South Carolina. The realities of collective bargaining are that compensation can go down, up, or remain the same. It is not a scare tactic. The truth is, wages and benefits are a function of their local market, and can decrease during bargaining – as they did when the IAM negotiated its contract with Vought right here in Charleston.
Our teammates have already accomplished amazing things without the need for an outside union, and our futures are very bright. As always, Boeing will continue to respect the rights of all teammates as we work tirelessly to build a great future free from the distractions of those who try to divide us. Thank you for all that you do. I am proud to be part of your team. [Emphasis added.]
It appears, based on the back and forth, that things are, once again, heating up in North Charleston.
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