About 1,500 Boeing machinists have gone on strike today, threatening upcoming satellite launch operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Last-minute talks, headed by a federal mediator, broke down last night between the machinist's union and the company unit that operates the Delta rocket program. Strikers have begun picketing the company's Huntington Beach plant.
Although Boeing posted $1 billion in net income last quarter alone, their final contract offer:
- proposed ending retirement health care coverage for new employees
- wanted to eliminate caps on out-of-pocket expenses for medical premiums and co-pays.
A few more details below the fold...
From
ABC:
The strike could affect satellite launch facilities operated by Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems unit at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral in Florida. Already, the launch of one Delta rocket carrying NASA environmental satellites was delayed at Vandenberg because of the strike threat.
Two weeks ago, locals with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in California, Alabama and Florida, rejected Boeing's latest offer for a three-year contract.
The machinists say Boeing has proposed ending retirement health care coverage for new employees and wants to eliminate caps on out-of-pocket expenses for medical premiums and co-pays. "Boeing posted $1 billion in net income for last quarter and we think this is not the time we should be making concessions," union spokesman Kevin Cummings said.
The current three-year contract expired Oct. 23. It covers about 900 workers in Huntington Beach, Torrance, Vandenberg and Edwards Air Force Base in California; about 300 workers at Cape Canaveral in Florida; and about 300 workers at Boeing facilities in Huntsville and Decatur, Ala. The company's Delta rocket program is based in Huntington Beach. The rockets are assembled at plants in Alabama and launched from Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral.
Universal healthcare coverage anyone?