Machinists Union District 751 has invested $100,000 into a study being sponsored by the Washington Aerospace Partnership that will examine the state’s ability to attract and retain aerospace jobs.
“For years, this union has talked about the strengths of Washington as a place for aerospace companies to do business,” said union District President Tom Wroblewski.
The goal of the study, which is being conducted by consultants with Accenture, is to “finally find an interpreter who can deliver that message in a language that Wall Street money managers — and executives at Boeing and other aerospace companies — understand,” Wroblewski said.
“It’s one thing for you and I to say that it makes no sense to hire workers at $15 an hour — or even $15 a day — if you’ve also got to hire a core group of high-skilled workers like you at $30 an hour to tear apart the low-cost work that was done wrong and make it right,” Wroblewski told union members in his monthly column in the AeroMechanic newsletter, which is now available online.
The goal of the study, which is being conducted by consultants with Accenture, is to “finally find an interpreter who can deliver that message in a language that Wall Street money managers — and executives at Boeing and other aerospace companies — understand,” Wroblewski said.
“It’s one thing for you and I to say that it makes no sense to hire workers at $15 an hour — or even $15 a day — if you’ve also got to hire a core group of high-skilled workers like you at $30 an hour to tear apart the low-cost work that was done wrong and make it right,” Wroblewski told union members in his monthly column in the AeroMechanic newsletter, which is now available online.
“What the consultants will bring to the table is a way of hanging a dollar value on that equation, so that corporate money managers can plug that into their calculations,” he said. “They’ll make our argument in a way the bean counters can understand.”
District 751 is a strong supporter of Project Pegasus, which is the state of Washington’s campaign to ensure that Boeing builds the 737 Max and other future airplanes in Washington state. The Accenture study — which is being jointly funded by business, labor and government groups across Washington — is part of the effort.
“We want to ensure that future Boeing airplanes are built here in Washington, and we’re open to working with anyone else who understands the value that only the world’s best aerospace workers can bring,” Wroblewski wrote.
Also in this month’s AeroMechanic, you can read:
- A story about how aerospace workers at Hytek Finishes in Kent have voted to join District 751 by a 2-to-1 margin;
- A report on a recent federal study that shows some of the biggest benefits to belonging to a union are the superior health care, retirement and life insurance benefits union members earn with their union contracts;
- An update on the latest developments in the National Labor Relations Board‘s complaint against Boeing over its announced plans to move 787 work done by District 751 members to South Carolina;
- Information on how District 751 members can apply — starting Sept. 14 — for Boeing apprenticeships in machine tool maintenance;
- Reports on recent community-service activities, including two major fundraisers for Guide Dogs of America;
- An update on training for District 751 stewards working for companies across Eastern Washington.
Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at Boeing, District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents some 28,500 working men and women at 45 employers across Washington, Oregon and California. In 2010, District 751 members used collective bargaining to reach contracts with 22 of those employers, without a single work day lost to strikes.
To contact a District 751 officer for information on how a union contract could help you, click here.
