Boeing union wants a board seat and a say on plane safety
#Boeing's largest #union is in contract talks with the beleaguered airplane company for the first time in more than a decade
— and it's seizing the moment to push for cultural change.
The International Association of Machinists is taking the opportunity to negotiate beyond standard line items like pay and retirement benefits — they want a real say in quality and safety standards.
"It's very important to us that we build a safe, quality airplane," Jon Holden, president of the 32,000-member International Association of Machinists District 751, said earlier this month as talks began.
The union represents 32,000 workers who assemble airplanes in factories in Washington state.
This is likely its "first time ever" proposing terms like this, Holden said.
As part of that effort, 🔸the union wants a seat on Boeing's board of directors🔸, Holden told the Financial Times this week.
"With what's going on these days, we are oftentimes the last line of defense," he told the paper. "We have to save this company from itself."
Union representatives on the board "would serve as a check on the CEO," Leeham News, a trade publication, wrote in January — urging a board shakeup at the company.
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/28/boeing-union-board-contract