Union rules set high bar to Boeing U.S. worker strike
By Allison Lampert
Sept 12 (Reuters) -Boeing BA.N faces a likely strike on Friday by more than 30,000 workers that could shutter its Seattle-area plane factories over demands for a bigger pay increase than the 25% over four years that union leaders agreed to.
If there is no strike, the unionized workers could have to swallow a contract that most of them have said they oppose. That is because they need a supermajority to strike under rules from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the largest aerospace union in North America which represents Boeing's U.S. West coast workers.
Here's how the voting works:
Q. What's on the ballot?
A. Boeing workers have a two-part ballot. They are first asked to accept or reject the contract offer. The second question is whether they want to support a strike.
If a majority of workers vote to accept the proposed contract, the agreement goes into effect.
Q. What needs to happen for the workers to go on strike?
A. A majority of Boeing workers must reject the proposed contract and two-thirds of those voting must support a strike.
Q. What happens if a majority of workers reject the tentative agreement but less than two-thirds of those voting support a strike?
A. The contract offer is accepted by default.
Q. In general, how often are contracts ratified despite support from just a minority of workers?
A. Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said such a scenario is uncommon. In one rare case from 2002, IAM workers at a Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas were forced to accept a contract with less than 40% support. That's because only 61% voted to authorize a strike, falling short of the two-thirds majority required under the IAM's constitution.
Q: Why does the IAM have such a high bar to call a strike?
A: The IAM says that if a simple majority was enough to call a strike, the chances of winning a good contract through a strike "decreases dramatically."
"Anytime you go into a possible strike situation, you want to be sure that a 2/3 majority of your membership support calling a strike. Going on strike with less than 2/3 results in a possible weak picket line," according to an IAM information package for workers about the Boeing talks.
"Calling a strike is serious business. The leadership needs to be sure that 2/3 of the membership support withholding their labor to walk the line."
Q. Do workers get strike pay?
A. Members will be paid $250 a week from the strike fund starting in the third week, a union spokesperson said.
Q. When does the voting start and end, and when will we know the result?
A. Polling started on Thursday at 5 a.m. PT and will close at 6 p.m. PT. The result will be announced on Thursday evening, the IAM said. If a strike is sanctioned, it could start early Friday.
Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Joe Brock in Seattle; Editing by David Gregorio
Ativos relacionados
Últimas notícias
Isenção de Responsabilidade: As entidades do XM Group proporcionam serviço de apenas-execução e acesso à nossa plataforma online de negociação, permitindo a visualização e/ou uso do conteúdo disponível no website ou através deste, o que não se destina a alterar ou a expandir o supracitado. Tal acesso e uso estão sempre sujeitos a: (i) Termos e Condições; (ii) Avisos de Risco; e (iii) Termos de Responsabilidade. Este, é desta forma, fornecido como informação generalizada. Particularmente, por favor esteja ciente que os conteúdos da nossa plataforma online de negociação não constituem solicitação ou oferta para iniciar qualquer transação nos mercados financeiros. Negociar em qualquer mercado financeiro envolve um nível de risco significativo de perda do capital.
Todo o material publicado na nossa plataforma de negociação online tem apenas objetivos educacionais/informativos e não contém — e não deve ser considerado conter — conselhos e recomendações financeiras, de negociação ou fiscalidade de investimentos, registo de preços de negociação, oferta e solicitação de transação em qualquer instrumento financeiro ou promoção financeira não solicitada direcionadas a si.
Qual conteúdo obtido por uma terceira parte, assim como o conteúdo preparado pela XM, tais como, opiniões, pesquisa, análises, preços, outra informação ou links para websites de terceiras partes contidos neste website são prestados "no estado em que se encontram", como um comentário de mercado generalizado e não constitui conselho de investimento. Na medida em que qualquer conteúdo é construído como pesquisa de investimento, deve considerar e aceitar que este não tem como objetivo e nem foi preparado de acordo com os requisitos legais concebidos para promover a independência da pesquisa de investimento, desta forma, deve ser considerado material de marketing sob as leis e regulações relevantes. Por favor, certifique-se que leu e compreendeu a nossa Notificação sobre Pesquisa de Investimento não-independente e o Aviso de Risco, relativos à informação supracitada, os quais podem ser acedidos aqui.