General Wage Increase

In the last round of bargaining, membership surveys had noted that members wanted to focus on health care and pension rather than general wage increases. As a result, we accepted a 3-year contract with only lump sum payments. With the soaring price of gas and other products, every member has mentioned General Wage Increases in the surveys with the expectation that It's Our Time... This Time to receive an increase each year of the contract.

Shift Differential

A quick look at the short history of shift differential highlights the need for improvement -- especially on third shift where it remains at 10 cents an hour since 1950. Certainly 10 cents went a lot further then than it does today.

Employee Incentive Plan

The EIP remains a point of contention in negotiations, as Boeing continues to exclude the employees who build the airplanes and have the most impact on their delivery schedule. It's Our Time... This Time to be a part of the EIP.

Click here to view the history of GWI

Click here to view the changes in Shift Differentials

Employee Incentive Program

Boeing's Employee Incentive Plan (EIP) MUST Include Our Members

The Machinists Union believes Boeing's Employee Incentive Plan (EIP) is a program that should include every employee -- especially if it is truly an incentive program. Since the hard work of our members is key to Boeing achieving their EIP targets, it only makes sense to have them included in the program.

As Boeing paid out an additional 15 days of EIP pay this past February, Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney declared, "We exceeded our 2007 business-plan goals, thanks to a strong focus on both growth and productivity by the people of Boeing. Despite a number of unexpected challenges, we delivered high-quality results that reflect the commitment of our people and demonstrate the underlying strength of this company. Boeing's terrific 2007 performance gives me confidence that, together, we will find ways to keep improving and meet our even higher goals for 2008."

McNerney needs to hear that -- It's Our Time...This Time! Since the EIP award is a way for Boeing to recognize employees for the company's performance, it is time the Machinists are a part of that reward system.

District 751 has objected to the exclusion of IAM members from Boeing's EIP since it was originally introduced. The highly publicized payouts, which have been on average 10 or more work days, are a slap in the face to our hard-working members and an issue we are looking to correct in the upcoming negotiations.

In the 2005 negotiations, Boeing offerred to include IAM members in an incentive plan similar to the EIP, but stopped short of including us in this plan. However, once our members said no to the Company's proposed takeaways in others areas (including trying to eliminate retiree medical for new hires), Boeing withdrew even an alternate incentive plan.

If the ShareValue system can be set up to theoretically reward 100’ă of the Company employees, then EIP should be set up the same way. The EIP foundational premise of rewarding performance is great, but the way it is currently implemented is divisive since not everyone who helps meet the target goals is rewarded for their efforts. It is like a sports team that wins a championship, only the coach and the substitutes receive a financial reward. In other words, the Corporate leaders of Boeing need to learn that we are a team here at Boeing. Until they recognize and reward the entire team in a way that motivates everyone, then we will never maximize our performance and we will continue to suffer with morale issues.

"The EIP could be used to unite Boeing workers and allow our members to share in the success at Boeing they help to create," stated District 751 President Tom Wroblewski. "Excluding IAM-represented employees from the EIP shows the true intentions of the EIP as a program to divide employees and punish those who exercise their right to be represented by a labor union. It is something we intend to change in this contract."

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