The Wrongologist

The Daily Escape:

Lenticular cloud at sunrise, Salton City, CA – May 2024 photo by Paulette Donnellon

At a time when Boeing is facing calls by the flying public as well as from governments to return to its focus on safety, the company has scored an “own goal” by deciding to pick a fight with its in-house firefighters union, who help to keep Boeing itself safe.

From The Stand, a Seattle-based newsletter about working people:

“The more than 120 fire fighters who protect Boeing employees and facilities in Washington state — members of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local I-66 — are struggling to get a fair contract from the Arlington, Virginia-based company.”

At the heart of the dispute is Boeing’s insistence on raising the time it takes for firefighters to reach the maximum pay scale from 14 years to 19 years. Negotiations have been ongoing through a federal mediator for more than two months, with no deal reached. Nineteen years is nearly the entire work span of a firefighter’s career. If this deal is accepted, they will hit the top of their pay scale and retire soon after. It’s understandable why that would be good for the company. From Boeing: (emphasis by Wrongo)

“Despite extensive discussions through an impartial federal mediator, we did not reach an agreement with the union….We are disappointed the union chose not to even bring our offer to its members for one final vote….We have now locked out members of the bargaining unit and fully implemented our contingency plan with highly qualified firefighters performing the work of IAFF members.”

More from The Stand:

“Boeing’s “last, best and final offer” to the fire fighters was rejected by more than 80% of IAFF I-66 members. The union says the offer failed to address fire fighters’ concerns about short staffing, pay that’s significantly lower than local fire departments, and step increases that take 19 years to reach the top of the pay scale…”

Obviously, “Safety First” remains Boeing’s motto. Maybe that’s Safety of our bonuses First. This also reminds Wrongo of the old saw:

“Socialism is the fire department saving your house. Capitalism is the insurance company denying your claim.”

Continuing Boeing’s recent tradition of quality operations (?) and stable management, they’ve now moved on to scab firefighters for their burning needs. The entire Boeing firefighting staff is 125 people. So think about the negotiations on how many years should exist between pay step increases: Boeing’s demand makes no effort to meet somewhere in the middle. Wrongo isn’t sure what is driving the Boeing Board of Directors: The union only has 125 members, so the amount of money Boeing would pay if they employed a “meet in the middle” settlement seems tiny compared to the scale of Boeing’s total expenses.

It’s also awful for Boeing’s Board that this was reported in the media on the same day that the FAA announced another investigation into Boeing over falsified recordkeeping in its 787 program: (emphasis by Wrongo)

“In an email to Boeing’s South Carolina employees on April 29, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, said a worker observed an “irregularity” in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager…..After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed…”

Son of a door plug! The world is watching in real time how difficult it can be to turn a huge company’s culture around, particularly when the members of the firm’s C-Suite whose major function in the corporation is its financial performance doesn’t see the maintenance of that culture as a huge problem. It may take many years for Boeing to pull out of this nosedive, or they may fail entirely.

In the meantime, do you feel their planes are safe enough to fly?