McDonnell Douglas machinists walk off job

World Combined Sources

This article was reprinted from the June 8, 1996 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

ST. LOUIS - Union leaders stormed out of negotiations and 6,700 McDonnell Douglas machinists went on strike June 5, protesting the aerospace company's growing use of nonunion workers. The plant is St. Louis' largest employer. No new talks were scheduled.

"We're ready. We'll be here for however long it takes to get a contract that we can live with," Barry Betz, an 11-year worker, said as he marched outside the plant in the predawn darkness.

"You have got to start drawing the line somewhere," machinist Stephen Borkowski said as he walked the picket line. "I'm not doing it so much for me as I am for the young people. ... If we don't do something, young people in America won't be able to find a decent job."

Strikers shouted at nonunion workers arriving for work, but police reported no real problems. The biggest problem initially was traffic caused by motorists stopping to honk or wave at strikers.

Machinists union members overwhelmingly rejected the company's latest contract proposal on June 2. Federal mediators had worked all day June 4 in an attempt to broker a deal before union leaders stormed out.

The chief sticking point is outsourcing, the company's use of subcontractors and nonunion McDonnell Douglas plants for work once performed by union machinists. "Our members are sick of watching their jobs go out the door while company profits go up, up, up," union local President Gerald Oulson said. With more than $8 billion in prime military contracts, McDonnell Douglas stands second on the list of corporations feeding at the public trough.

The machinists make up the bulk of production workers at McDonnell Douglas. Leaders of two other unions at the company, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Teamsters, urged their members to honor picket lines.

Company spokesman Tom Williams, sarcastically told reporters he was unaware "of any company in the world today that would have a job security clause for every worker on the rolls today." Williams also said production would continue without the striking workers.

Outsourcing has been the key issue in other major strikes in recent months. Late last year, Boeing production workers walked out for 69 days. The strike delayed delivery of nearly three dozen commercial jets and cut Boeing's revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars in the fourth quarter.

The strike ended when the company agreed to consult with workers over future subcontracting. But Boeing didn't agree to stop the practice. Boeing plans to save $600 million over two years by subcontracting work on aircraft components.

In March, General Motors workers in Dayton, Ohio, walked out for 18 days over outsourcing. It was the longest strike against GM in 26 years, and shut down GM plants around the country.