Machinists picket aerospace supplier after winning NLRB ruling

KENT – Members of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 engaged in some pre-Christmas picketing as a show of solidarity with their fellow union members working at Hytek Finishes.

“We’re here to send a message to our union brothers and sisters — and especially to Hytek management,” said Ron Coen, the president of Local Lodge 751-C. “We’re here, we’re not going anywhere, and if you’re part of our union, we’ve got your back.”

Complete coverage of the latest developments in the union’s contentious negotiations with Hytek management can be found in the current edition of the AeroMechanic newsletter, which is now available online.

The picketing came after a late November ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, which found that management at Hytek had committed eight separate violations of the National Labor Relations Act since the start of negotiations with District 751 over a contract for more than 175 union members who work for the aerospace supplier.

Among their findings, NLRB investigators determined that Hytek managers improperly withheld information from the union necessary for fair bargaining, improperly withheld important information about chemical releases at the plant that impacted the health and safety of both workers and the public, and failed to bargain with the union prior to changing working conditions.

As a result of the finding, NLRB prosecutors will try to negotiate a settlement with Hytek management. If that fails, prosecutors will file a formal complaint and move to a trial before an administrative law judge.

Union officers hailed the findings.

“For more than a year now, Hytek managers have dragged their feet and refused to follow the law,” said Kevin Cummings, a Grand Lodge representative for the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers who is the union’s lead negotiator.

“Maybe now they’ll get serious about negotiating a fair contract with our members,” he said. “They’ve had their lives on hold long enough.”

Hytek Finishes is a subsidiary of Bellevue-based Esterline Corp. The Machinists who work there do metal finishing and etching with chemical to produce parts for the Boeing Co. and other aerospace manufacturers. For Boeing, they produce parts used on the 787, 777, 747-8, 777 and 767.

Also in the current AeroMechanic, you’ll find:

• News about the recently concluded election process for District 751 officers;
• A report on District 751′s record fundraising year for Guide Dogs of America;
• A report on how a Machinists Union contract helped protect workers at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station when a new company, L-3 Communications, took over the contract for doing the work they perform on U.S. Navy aircraft;
• A report about vehicle mechanics working for URS Corp. at Joint Base Lewis-McChord who voted in December to join District 751;
• Coverage of a speech by Gary Allen, the general vice president of the IAM’s Western Territories, who spoke at the Snohomish County Human Right’s Commission’s observance of International Human Rights Day.
• A report on a one-year contract ratified by Machinists in Spokane who work for Kenworth Sales; and
• A round-up of union community service activities, including work on KING-TV’s Hometeam Harvest food drive and Snohomish County United Way’s Toys for Tots drive, plus a story about a union member honored for his service to The Rescue Mission in Tacoma.

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Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at the Boeing Co., District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents nearly 34,000 working men and women at 48 employers across Washington, Oregon and California.

To learn more about District 751, read the Machinists News.