A union billboard in North Charleston. (Photo/Andy Owens)
Long shifts and forced overtime at Boeing South Carolina are enabling the Machinists union to gain some traction in a state where unions are mostly unwelcome, according to union spokesman Frank Larkin.
More Boeing South Carolina employees are signing authorization cards to show their interest in a potential International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers election at the North Charleston site, according to Larkin. These cards are handed out by Boeing employees who are working with the local branch of the Machinists union.
The union did not disclose how many cards are being signed, which Larkin said is typical during campaigns. He did say “confidence is increasing each week with the number of cards that are coming in.”
The National Labor Relations Board requires at least 30% of a company’s workforce to sign authorization cards before an election can be held.
The combination of increasing Dreamliner 787 production rates from three per month to five by 2016 and decreasing the amount of unfinished work headed to final assembly for completion, known as traveled work, has added to Boeing employees’ workload in North Charleston.
Demands are not likely to decrease as the local site prepares to be the sole producer of the 787-10 Dreamliner in 2017 while continuing to produce parts and co-assemble the 787-8 and 787-9 with Puget Sound operations in Washington.
Boeing South Carolina spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said overtime is common when a new rate increase or airplane model is introduced, including in Puget Sound, where Boeing workers are represented by the Machinists union.
“The truth is that the 787 Dreamliner program is still young, and it’s not uncommon on a new program to see surges in overtime when new models are introduced or engineering changes are made,” Eslinger said. “That’s been true on virtually every commercial airplane program we’ve ever launched, and it’s still true today.”
Local union representatives are meeting with employees at their homes, upon request, and in their small white office that sits less than 3 miles from Boeing South Carolina’s massive 787 Dreamliner campus.
Union workers started sending monthly newsletters to Boeing employees this summer about their rights, raises, retirement plans and health benefits. The September mailing of “News for Boeing South Carolina Employees” reads: “For union workers, stability at work translates directly to stability at home. Conversely, instability at work brings with it an uncertainty that can weigh us down. Whether its unstructured shift scheduling, forced overtime or inherent favoritism, the well-being of workers is often pushed to the side in favor of corporate profits.”
Eslinger said if the union is promising less overtime to Boeing South Carolina, it is making promises it can’t keep in an effort to “fool workers into signing union cards.” She calls this tactic “disappointing, but not surprising.”
Eslinger said Boeing South Carolina wants to remind employees that the Machinists union filed an NLRB lawsuit against Boeing in 2010 to prevent the 787 final assembly and delivery operations from opening in South Carolina instead of in Washington state. The NLRB dropped the case in 2011. She said the union also recently criticized local workers' abilities to build the new 787-10.
“Never in the history of twin-aisle commercial airplane manufacturing has a company produced 10 airplanes per month. Boeing South Carolina teammates are making history every day that a 787 Dreamliner or aft and midbody component delivers from this site, and they’re doing it without third-party representation,” Eslinger said.
(A version of this story ran in the Oct. 6 issue of the Business Journal).
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