Union Stuff

There was an interesting article in the paper last night (Yes I still get and read a newspaper) on the SPEEA and Boeing labor negotiations.
The article was noteworthy for a couple of reasons.
First, Mike Denton came right out and admitted the company had screwed up in the manner they offloaded the 787 major subassembly work. It's one of those things that was immediately obvious to everyone in the whole damn world, but the corporate moguls have been in denial so long they didn't want to recognize their own incompetence. IT becomes difficult to deny there is an elephant in the living room when you are knee deep in elephant poo.
The problem is that the company is being held hostage by bean counters. Just like the 787, a plan will be put forward that looks on paper like they will make tons of money, but the people putting The plan together really don't understand the intricacies of the assembly and integration process. The failure of the 787 plan was not just likely, it was inevitable.
Secondly, the statement was made that the SPEEA membership seems complacent, happy even. Where the Hell has he been. If he had been in my area, Today is "Red Shirt" Wednesday. The majority of the people are wearing their union tee shirts today, And the talk isn't exactly happy.
Just as they did with the IAM, management seems to have this attitude that we will take whatever they deign in their generosity to offer us. I'm afraid that if they don't alter their course, they will push everyone to the edge and beyond.
I guess we'll find out when we see what the actual offer is.