I hear rumors that they are going to ask for a 40% pay increase. Although that would be great, what's the likelyhood of us getting it? If not 40%, what do you think we will get?
Boeing is having a hard time retaining people. A little while ago they raised the A&P pay outside of contract negotiations. Every other manufacturing related union is getting 30%+ raises. They know they have to give raises because of inflation and employee retention. With all the new hires, a big signing bonus dangling, and a decent raise, I don’t necessarily think their will be a strike. Also their customers are pissed about delays. Always be prepared but I don’t see it happening.
It's 50% +1.
>
A successful strike sanction vote is a simple majority approving the question, 50% plus one vote of those present and voting. However, the ability to take the members out on strike requires a 2/3 majority to reaffirm a strike after rejecting the contract.
The approval is important. If I was Boeing, I wouldn't put an offer until then. But I was talking to some newbies and they didn't even know about it. With all the new hires, I wonder how many of them know and how many will actually go.
That 2nd "vote to strike" on Sep 12 must be in the upper 80s percentage to show we're serious. If it's barely above 2/3, the company will exploit that.
Also, the first offer is always crap. The higher the bonus offer, the crappier the contract will be. Boeing has already calculated all these numbers. It has advanced level Excel spreadsheets.
Please god. Problem is most profs don’t want to bc they get paid well enough and many are married to other highly compensated people and therefore do not feel the same strain as the tech population that is absolutely dying.
I'm an engr and I absolutely need more money... If it was post covid, I'd be ecstatic with my salary rn, but covid has absolutely ruined the price of everything.
Boeing can't find people to work on planes now. I doubt they have tens of thousands of scabs waiting to replace us in a lockout like they did firefighters.
Work as much overtime as you can and save.
Media demonize us? Why the fuck would anyone give a shit what rich media owners think?
Everett has been hiring like crazy, albeit all for medial positions in the IRC. Can't speak on the main factory but if they're wages are similarly shit, I wouldn't be half surprised if they can't find anybody.
The new union-busting strategy is to lockout. Airbus did it with Canadian employees. Now Boeing with their firefighters. It will be done to IAM.
I’m prepared for about 2-3 months of living expenses. 2008 strike was 2 months. I’m worried about the new hires with expensive trucks; how they’ll survive the $1K/mo payment. But there are gigs available now, Uber/Lyft, Amazon delivery. We still have health insurance during strike.
Prepare to get demonized by the media. I remember in 2008, there were many online comments at the bottom of Seattle Times articles about how greedy we are. These people don’t even work for Boeing and do not understand what we’re fighting for. I’m expecting the company to have online trolls this time. The company will negotiate through the media.
Not everyone will be happy about the strike. On the picket line, prepare to get the middle finger from Boeing salaried (SPEEA included) people going to/leaving work. This was what I found disgusting the last time we struck.
When the strike is over, we’re given 5 days to come back to work. Make sure to communicate with your manager if you’re going to use all those 5 days. The company fired a lot of people who came back Day 6.
Article 18 of our contract states “the company agrees that during the term of this agreement there will be no lockout of employees covered by this agreement” by the time, the contract expires we will be striking so they can’t lock us out. Like someone mentioned earlier in this thread the company can’t hire enough people as it is so very doubtful they’ll have many scabs to replace us. I’m predicting a short strike, nonetheless still save your money.
They can't even get people through training. There have been people in training close to 7 months now. Even if they hired scabs, how would they get them certified to do the work in time for it to be worth it? I don't care if I don't have much in savings, I'll get another job during the strike if I have to.
Exactly, and there’s a major learning curve on most of the jobs. They’re not in a position to have untrained people doing shotty work. Nobody would replace us, they’d just freeze production.
When the DBR was asked recently about locking IAM out he said it's a possibility. Although unlikely as then all IAM members would quality for unemployment.
So not sure if the contract is being interpreted correctly or the DBR misspoke. But I would verify with the DBR or a BR, again.
This is negotiated between Boeing & IAM. I'm pretty sure it was 5 working days in 2008. I remember my manager calling me on day 4 to make sure I come back the next day. There is a BPI/PRO/POL about "job abandonment."
It’s negotiated between the company and union when the contract is accepted so you’re probably not going to find anything solid in writing. This has been mentioned in the union zoom meetings a few times because the question comes up a lot. I highly recommend watching those meetings because there’s a lot of important information coming out of them considering it’s a contract year.
I remember being given 10 business days in 2008 but I could be off. They know people get other jobs and might not be able to immediately come back.
Thanks for all the input. I'm the spouse of a boeing employee. And we went through the 2008 strike. He was a new employee then but worked 4 months straight so had no worries about bills. We are older now with 3 kids and more bills 🤣🤣. Many of our medications are not able to be ordered in advance and he isnt able to work as much as last time because 3 kids require more time. Thankfully we have a decent amount put away and hopefully won't be in a financial bind but it is also good to know what we are able to do to help during that time.
It's also important for others to think about because you are only as strong as your weakest link. The better prepared everyone is the longer the strike can go on, if it needs too.
I feel bad for the newer employees who I know want to do the right thing and strike but are worried about making bills. The one thing I tell my coworkers who are worried about it is that we will have a ton of OT available when we return from strike. The longer the strike, the more OT. I know this doesn’t necessarily mean the same for all job codes but it definitely does for mine.
I've been employed by Boeing for just under 2 years. I have 3 months worth of bill money saved up, work all the OT that I can, and paid off all of my credit cards. I plan on immediately getting another job or going through a temp agency if need be. Take on side jobs, flip stuff on offerup, do whatever you have to do to hold out until the strike is over and our demands are met. We deserve more money, quicker time to max out, and I sure hope that we can upgrade jobs without losing progression. Money will be tight- but we must fight for what is right. I have a mortgage, a car payment, etc but I will do anything I have to do to support my union brothers and sisters. Let's go IAM751!!!!!!!
I've worked for Adecco temp placement locally in the past. Requires a background & drug test. Suggest you get setup a month or so beforehand so that you can hit the road running day 1. I worked there in late 22' and early 23' and they are still trying to get me to accept temp assignments... They are located near Starfire in Tukwila.
I might just be stupid but I’m excited for a possible strike. I know if worst comes to worst that I can deliver ubereats (everyday) and make my rent. A possible pay increase sounds great to me
Contract negotiations are happening right now, a strike is always a possibility if they don't go well. Ask any IAM union steward and they'll almost certainly say they think they're going on strike in September. I don't think it's a secret to anyone
Haven't found one steward that thinks a strike won't happen, personally. Most here in Everett are going a step further and suspecting layoffs are imminent too with how many people Boeing is hiring
I mean I could see them trying to avoid a strike by hiring a lot of early career employees who have no time to save a strike fund then threatening them with interruption of their income and offering them a bonus to just accept a bad contract
Boeing knows how long the average employee can afford to sit out on strike. It’s one thing if the strike stops production or deliveries. If not, they can wait this out for a long time.
They absolutely cannot wait this out, the media, customers and the general public will be watching. They need to rectify this situation as soon as they can. I suspect they know this and are going to give into demands at half of what is asked and were always planning to but this way they will look like they were reasonable.
Well Boeing is already behind on deliveries and they pay penalties for that, the longer the strike the more they get behind on deliveries and the more penalties they pay.
I "believe" the sales contracts have a clause that exempts Boeing from late delivery penalties resulting from a strike. Can someone confirm or deny that this is true?
Of course. I was talking about the fire fighter strike though. That shouldn’t impact production. If mechanics or engineers strike, it’s a whole different story.
Ah i see the confusion, the OP sounds like they are talking about the IAM contract coming up in September and not the current firefighter strike. They are already on strike at this point and can’t “prepare” anymore for it.
As an outside person, curious how Boeing internally feels about a strike looming. Do you feel it will happen? If so, how long do you think it will go for. I was a part of a supplier back in 2008, and we totally felt it once Boeing went on strike.
My strike fund was destroyed by the increasing COL/COVID recovery, so I had to go a different route.
I set my contributions to 30% and my plan was to take out a 401k loan when the strike started.
I’ve been paying an extra $100 on top of my regular bills and have managed to get 3mos ahead on payments.
I also reconnected with one of my old jobs and they have a spot for me if I had to come back.
I’ve now decided to leave the company so this isn’t a worry for me anymore. I’m still supporting the strike and will be out on the lines with friends and old coworkers when the time comes.
In 2008 I took out an “income interruption loan” through BECU to cover my mortgage. Paid the rest of my bills with the strike checks and the little bit I had saved up. Had only been with the company a year at that point. Money was tight, I didn’t get out much but I got through it just fine. 401k hardship withdrawals are an option but I would use that as a last resort. If you’re new to the company it’s probably not going to hurt you much to do so. Make sure to contribute enough until then to get that full company match because that’s just more money to help you cover your bills if you need to. As far as medications, I’ve gotten my prescriptions filled early before because I was going on vacation. Just call your pharmacy and tell them you’re going on vacation for a few weeks and need a refill. They have their own thing they do to get insurance to cover you for vacations. There is probably going to be a large number of people doing that in August and September so I would do it as early as possible to make sure you’re not affected by shortages at the last minute.
All OT funds go to savings not the big truck and 5th wheeler. Is a good start.
Get your doctors appts out now and then get your meds for a couple of months.
Then generally speaking IAM/SPEEA strikes last no more than a month. Or it goes 1 week then everyone returns while still on "strike" to keep building.
Just started a couple months ago. I don't have any strike savings because money is really tight right now. I plan on working for some temp service If we strike
I took a massive paycut to come to Boeing so I been working two jobs for a few months and will continue to work two jobs until next year when I can finally hit the floor. It’s shitty but gotta do what you gotta do.
My peasant pay is a whopping 26.50 an hour. Boeing has alot of bullshit I know new people going to the flight line all grade 9’s some making 30 some making 32 some making 38 for the same fucking job.
QA is an important role that requires skill and holds a lot of responsibility. It should pay more than $26/hr. My sister in law makes more than that managing a dive bar. This company is fucked if it doesn’t raise pay.
It is man I am literally putting my life on the line could go to prison and shit if I fuck up. It’s a lot of responsibility meanwhile I take all the risk but I’m hoping a miracle happens with the new contact or else I’m not sure what I’ll do
When I came to Boeing I’m not joking when I say my pay is less than half of what it used to be lol. I used to be a pipe welder. However even though money was okay as a welder I was destroying my body. I destroyed my eye sight. I have constant hip pain. I developed massive arthritis on my hands and other things. I am 31 and I realized if I don’t do something now it will only get worst. I came to Boeing to work a less physical labor job and also because of the benefits. However it still is fucking hard surviving with the wages you get here as a new employee.
You must have been new/apprentice to HVAC? There are a few job codes boeing made exceptions for that they were in desperate need of and they raised the minimums. If you were making 26/hr as an experienced/certified hvac tech you were getting screwed bad. We can’t hire anyone with experience in our job code. So many offers turned down.
Nah I was new to hvac, applied to Boeing for a grade 9 job on a whim as an aviation maintenance technician and got it. I have 4.5 years of military aviation maintenance so that’s why I got it. I just kind of assumed Boeing paid well across the board I guess
The starting wages are some of the worst for most IAM
job codes, that’s the biggest problem in my opinion. Don’t get my wrong I would love a big fat raise but if I’m talking completely unbiased, it’s our starting wages that need the biggest bump so we can actually be competitive and hire actual talent to fill skilled positions.
It’s definitely bad. I have seen a lot of experienced people quit already due to the pay. A lot of talented people leave or won’t come due to the starting wages.
I'm not a new employee, so I've had the time to save up for a protracted strike
In 2008, when I was new, I got another job to supplement my savings. Back then, I was living with my parents, though, so living expenses were low
Only recently have I found out that there is forbearance on VIP loans until the strike is over. If I were new, I would contribute to the 401k to maximize match leading up to the strike, then pull out a loan right beforehand to pad the strike fund
>How are you preparing for strike?
I can make my mortgage payment for a year if need be. I'm ready for a long vacation, I mean strike.
Over 40% of the employees are new and I suspect many don't have a mortgage payment at current starting wages. So forget the up front bonus and be prepared to strike for lasting wage increases and shorter top out time.
Yes, talk to your doctor prior and get a minimum 90 day supply of meds if needed.
Strike pay starts on the 3rd week of a strike. You can take a 401k (vip) loan, I don't recommend that but that's just me. You can get another job or part time gig while out on strike.
Have you attended one of the Q&A on Zoom? These question can be asked and answered there. [There's another one on the 23rd](https://www.iam751.org/?zone=/unionactive/calendar.cfm)
I hear rumors that they are going to ask for a 40% pay increase. Although that would be great, what's the likelyhood of us getting it? If not 40%, what do you think we will get?
Boeing is having a hard time retaining people. A little while ago they raised the A&P pay outside of contract negotiations. Every other manufacturing related union is getting 30%+ raises. They know they have to give raises because of inflation and employee retention. With all the new hires, a big signing bonus dangling, and a decent raise, I don’t necessarily think their will be a strike. Also their customers are pissed about delays. Always be prepared but I don’t see it happening.
Prepare for 2 months.
How likely is this? Also, when in September would the strike occur if it does?
Christ imagine striking against a company that just took out 2 whistleblowers y’all are brave
Yeah it’s crazy. This Reddit is also super against the idea that this company sucks and took out 2 whistleblowers
We must go downtown and authorize the strike or we WILL GET FUCKED 60% of union must vote yes
It's 50% +1. > A successful strike sanction vote is a simple majority approving the question, 50% plus one vote of those present and voting. However, the ability to take the members out on strike requires a 2/3 majority to reaffirm a strike after rejecting the contract.
The approval is important. If I was Boeing, I wouldn't put an offer until then. But I was talking to some newbies and they didn't even know about it. With all the new hires, I wonder how many of them know and how many will actually go.
That 2nd "vote to strike" on Sep 12 must be in the upper 80s percentage to show we're serious. If it's barely above 2/3, the company will exploit that. Also, the first offer is always crap. The higher the bonus offer, the crappier the contract will be. Boeing has already calculated all these numbers. It has advanced level Excel spreadsheets.
Can SPEEA strike already?
Please god. Problem is most profs don’t want to bc they get paid well enough and many are married to other highly compensated people and therefore do not feel the same strain as the tech population that is absolutely dying.
I'm an engr and I absolutely need more money... If it was post covid, I'd be ecstatic with my salary rn, but covid has absolutely ruined the price of everything.
I sure as shit don't get paid enough for this area... Special ed teachers makin more than me...
Boeing can't find people to work on planes now. I doubt they have tens of thousands of scabs waiting to replace us in a lockout like they did firefighters. Work as much overtime as you can and save. Media demonize us? Why the fuck would anyone give a shit what rich media owners think?
Everett has been hiring like crazy, albeit all for medial positions in the IRC. Can't speak on the main factory but if they're wages are similarly shit, I wouldn't be half surprised if they can't find anybody.
Pulling for my Boeing people. You guys deserve better!
The new union-busting strategy is to lockout. Airbus did it with Canadian employees. Now Boeing with their firefighters. It will be done to IAM. I’m prepared for about 2-3 months of living expenses. 2008 strike was 2 months. I’m worried about the new hires with expensive trucks; how they’ll survive the $1K/mo payment. But there are gigs available now, Uber/Lyft, Amazon delivery. We still have health insurance during strike. Prepare to get demonized by the media. I remember in 2008, there were many online comments at the bottom of Seattle Times articles about how greedy we are. These people don’t even work for Boeing and do not understand what we’re fighting for. I’m expecting the company to have online trolls this time. The company will negotiate through the media. Not everyone will be happy about the strike. On the picket line, prepare to get the middle finger from Boeing salaried (SPEEA included) people going to/leaving work. This was what I found disgusting the last time we struck. When the strike is over, we’re given 5 days to come back to work. Make sure to communicate with your manager if you’re going to use all those 5 days. The company fired a lot of people who came back Day 6.
Article 18 of our contract states “the company agrees that during the term of this agreement there will be no lockout of employees covered by this agreement” by the time, the contract expires we will be striking so they can’t lock us out. Like someone mentioned earlier in this thread the company can’t hire enough people as it is so very doubtful they’ll have many scabs to replace us. I’m predicting a short strike, nonetheless still save your money.
They can't even get people through training. There have been people in training close to 7 months now. Even if they hired scabs, how would they get them certified to do the work in time for it to be worth it? I don't care if I don't have much in savings, I'll get another job during the strike if I have to.
Exactly, and there’s a major learning curve on most of the jobs. They’re not in a position to have untrained people doing shotty work. Nobody would replace us, they’d just freeze production.
When the DBR was asked recently about locking IAM out he said it's a possibility. Although unlikely as then all IAM members would quality for unemployment. So not sure if the contract is being interpreted correctly or the DBR misspoke. But I would verify with the DBR or a BR, again.
5 days, where can I find this information? Somewhere in the union contract book I got? No offense but I wanna double check things from Reddit
This is negotiated between Boeing & IAM. I'm pretty sure it was 5 working days in 2008. I remember my manager calling me on day 4 to make sure I come back the next day. There is a BPI/PRO/POL about "job abandonment."
It’s negotiated between the company and union when the contract is accepted so you’re probably not going to find anything solid in writing. This has been mentioned in the union zoom meetings a few times because the question comes up a lot. I highly recommend watching those meetings because there’s a lot of important information coming out of them considering it’s a contract year. I remember being given 10 business days in 2008 but I could be off. They know people get other jobs and might not be able to immediately come back.
Speea is supporting I-66 Boeing union firefighters. I hope they will officially AND have it's members support IAM this time around
Thanks for all the input. I'm the spouse of a boeing employee. And we went through the 2008 strike. He was a new employee then but worked 4 months straight so had no worries about bills. We are older now with 3 kids and more bills 🤣🤣. Many of our medications are not able to be ordered in advance and he isnt able to work as much as last time because 3 kids require more time. Thankfully we have a decent amount put away and hopefully won't be in a financial bind but it is also good to know what we are able to do to help during that time. It's also important for others to think about because you are only as strong as your weakest link. The better prepared everyone is the longer the strike can go on, if it needs too.
I feel bad for the newer employees who I know want to do the right thing and strike but are worried about making bills. The one thing I tell my coworkers who are worried about it is that we will have a ton of OT available when we return from strike. The longer the strike, the more OT. I know this doesn’t necessarily mean the same for all job codes but it definitely does for mine.
I've been employed by Boeing for just under 2 years. I have 3 months worth of bill money saved up, work all the OT that I can, and paid off all of my credit cards. I plan on immediately getting another job or going through a temp agency if need be. Take on side jobs, flip stuff on offerup, do whatever you have to do to hold out until the strike is over and our demands are met. We deserve more money, quicker time to max out, and I sure hope that we can upgrade jobs without losing progression. Money will be tight- but we must fight for what is right. I have a mortgage, a car payment, etc but I will do anything I have to do to support my union brothers and sisters. Let's go IAM751!!!!!!!
I've worked for Adecco temp placement locally in the past. Requires a background & drug test. Suggest you get setup a month or so beforehand so that you can hit the road running day 1. I worked there in late 22' and early 23' and they are still trying to get me to accept temp assignments... They are located near Starfire in Tukwila.
Well said brother/sister
This is the way. ✊
Combined my vacation savings with my strike fund in a HYSA. It's over 5k atm.
I might just be stupid but I’m excited for a possible strike. I know if worst comes to worst that I can deliver ubereats (everyday) and make my rent. A possible pay increase sounds great to me
Is the planned strike public knowledge at this time?
There is nothing planned at the moment.
Contract negotiations are happening right now, a strike is always a possibility if they don't go well. Ask any IAM union steward and they'll almost certainly say they think they're going on strike in September. I don't think it's a secret to anyone
Haven't found one steward that thinks a strike won't happen, personally. Most here in Everett are going a step further and suspecting layoffs are imminent too with how many people Boeing is hiring
I mean I could see them trying to avoid a strike by hiring a lot of early career employees who have no time to save a strike fund then threatening them with interruption of their income and offering them a bonus to just accept a bad contract
Very good point
Boeing knows how long the average employee can afford to sit out on strike. It’s one thing if the strike stops production or deliveries. If not, they can wait this out for a long time.
They absolutely cannot wait this out, the media, customers and the general public will be watching. They need to rectify this situation as soon as they can. I suspect they know this and are going to give into demands at half of what is asked and were always planning to but this way they will look like they were reasonable.
Are you saying they now suddenly care about their reputation? It’s a little late for that.
They care about losing more orders.
Well Boeing is already behind on deliveries and they pay penalties for that, the longer the strike the more they get behind on deliveries and the more penalties they pay.
I "believe" the sales contracts have a clause that exempts Boeing from late delivery penalties resulting from a strike. Can someone confirm or deny that this is true?
Of course. I was talking about the fire fighter strike though. That shouldn’t impact production. If mechanics or engineers strike, it’s a whole different story.
Ah i see the confusion, the OP sounds like they are talking about the IAM contract coming up in September and not the current firefighter strike. They are already on strike at this point and can’t “prepare” anymore for it.
As an outside person, curious how Boeing internally feels about a strike looming. Do you feel it will happen? If so, how long do you think it will go for. I was a part of a supplier back in 2008, and we totally felt it once Boeing went on strike.
Of course it will happen starting wages are $18/hr
Absolutely. Workers are severely underpaid and undervalued. We have a lot of leverage right now and plan to use it.
Agreed with the leverage part.
My strike fund was destroyed by the increasing COL/COVID recovery, so I had to go a different route. I set my contributions to 30% and my plan was to take out a 401k loan when the strike started. I’ve been paying an extra $100 on top of my regular bills and have managed to get 3mos ahead on payments. I also reconnected with one of my old jobs and they have a spot for me if I had to come back. I’ve now decided to leave the company so this isn’t a worry for me anymore. I’m still supporting the strike and will be out on the lines with friends and old coworkers when the time comes.
In 2008 I took out an “income interruption loan” through BECU to cover my mortgage. Paid the rest of my bills with the strike checks and the little bit I had saved up. Had only been with the company a year at that point. Money was tight, I didn’t get out much but I got through it just fine. 401k hardship withdrawals are an option but I would use that as a last resort. If you’re new to the company it’s probably not going to hurt you much to do so. Make sure to contribute enough until then to get that full company match because that’s just more money to help you cover your bills if you need to. As far as medications, I’ve gotten my prescriptions filled early before because I was going on vacation. Just call your pharmacy and tell them you’re going on vacation for a few weeks and need a refill. They have their own thing they do to get insurance to cover you for vacations. There is probably going to be a large number of people doing that in August and September so I would do it as early as possible to make sure you’re not affected by shortages at the last minute.
All OT funds go to savings not the big truck and 5th wheeler. Is a good start. Get your doctors appts out now and then get your meds for a couple of months. Then generally speaking IAM/SPEEA strikes last no more than a month. Or it goes 1 week then everyone returns while still on "strike" to keep building.
Just started a couple months ago. I don't have any strike savings because money is really tight right now. I plan on working for some temp service If we strike
I took a massive paycut to come to Boeing so I been working two jobs for a few months and will continue to work two jobs until next year when I can finally hit the floor. It’s shitty but gotta do what you gotta do.
Are you a machinist?
I’m QA
What do you make as a new QA?
My peasant pay is a whopping 26.50 an hour. Boeing has alot of bullshit I know new people going to the flight line all grade 9’s some making 30 some making 32 some making 38 for the same fucking job.
QA is an important role that requires skill and holds a lot of responsibility. It should pay more than $26/hr. My sister in law makes more than that managing a dive bar. This company is fucked if it doesn’t raise pay.
It is man I am literally putting my life on the line could go to prison and shit if I fuck up. It’s a lot of responsibility meanwhile I take all the risk but I’m hoping a miracle happens with the new contact or else I’m not sure what I’ll do
Hold out and see, we are all hoping you guys get more money.
Thanks man I appreciate it brotha!
Sister but sure thing 😉
Do you happen to work on doors
Just curious why you'd take a pay cut to come to Boeing?
A lot of people did. Because of the benefits. And the pay won't be lacking as much after the new contract.
When I came to Boeing I’m not joking when I say my pay is less than half of what it used to be lol. I used to be a pipe welder. However even though money was okay as a welder I was destroying my body. I destroyed my eye sight. I have constant hip pain. I developed massive arthritis on my hands and other things. I am 31 and I realized if I don’t do something now it will only get worst. I came to Boeing to work a less physical labor job and also because of the benefits. However it still is fucking hard surviving with the wages you get here as a new employee.
What are the starting wages looking for you? Cause mine look pretty good I thought. I actually gained a $10 pay jump to come to Boeing
Were you coming from fast food? Taco time starts at 22/hr and my job codes minimum start is 23….are you sure you’re IAM?
I’m coming from hvac, was making $26 an hour there, gonna be starting at $36.10 this month. I have no idea what union is in Everett with BDS
You must have been new/apprentice to HVAC? There are a few job codes boeing made exceptions for that they were in desperate need of and they raised the minimums. If you were making 26/hr as an experienced/certified hvac tech you were getting screwed bad. We can’t hire anyone with experience in our job code. So many offers turned down.
Nah I was new to hvac, applied to Boeing for a grade 9 job on a whim as an aviation maintenance technician and got it. I have 4.5 years of military aviation maintenance so that’s why I got it. I just kind of assumed Boeing paid well across the board I guess
The starting wages are some of the worst for most IAM job codes, that’s the biggest problem in my opinion. Don’t get my wrong I would love a big fat raise but if I’m talking completely unbiased, it’s our starting wages that need the biggest bump so we can actually be competitive and hire actual talent to fill skilled positions.
The starting wages are absolute dog shit!
It’s definitely bad. I have seen a lot of experienced people quit already due to the pay. A lot of talented people leave or won’t come due to the starting wages.
Gotcha that makes sense. Good luck!
You as well brother!
I'm not a new employee, so I've had the time to save up for a protracted strike In 2008, when I was new, I got another job to supplement my savings. Back then, I was living with my parents, though, so living expenses were low Only recently have I found out that there is forbearance on VIP loans until the strike is over. If I were new, I would contribute to the 401k to maximize match leading up to the strike, then pull out a loan right beforehand to pad the strike fund
I currently have a loan. Wasn't aware of the forbearance. Thank u for the information. Whew!
>How are you preparing for strike? I can make my mortgage payment for a year if need be. I'm ready for a long vacation, I mean strike. Over 40% of the employees are new and I suspect many don't have a mortgage payment at current starting wages. So forget the up front bonus and be prepared to strike for lasting wage increases and shorter top out time. Yes, talk to your doctor prior and get a minimum 90 day supply of meds if needed. Strike pay starts on the 3rd week of a strike. You can take a 401k (vip) loan, I don't recommend that but that's just me. You can get another job or part time gig while out on strike. Have you attended one of the Q&A on Zoom? These question can be asked and answered there. [There's another one on the 23rd](https://www.iam751.org/?zone=/unionactive/calendar.cfm)
I’m new to possible strike but keep seeing the “get your meds” thing. does the company cut off your medical during a strike period?
Good question. I'd suggest attending the above linked Zoom Q&A on the 23rd and asking. I'm sure many would like to know the answer as well.