波音公司机械师抗议待遇低，组织大罢工

　　中国日报网站消息：9月1日，波音公司的机械师以86%的压倒性多数投票，决定从当地时间周五中午12点开始罢工，以抵制一份被其领导者认为是“耻辱的”为期三年的合同提案。

　　据美联社报道，罢工领导人认为这份合同提案存在很多不足之处，包括养老金支付数额的下降与健康保险成本的上涨。据悉，波音公司曾向49岁以上的机械师员工支付每月66美

元的养老金，而现在提供的数额只有60美元一个月。

　　波音公司发言人查尔斯·比克斯在芝加哥波音总部表示，这次罢工意味着波音公司将不得不立刻停止商用飞机的组装，着手处理该飞机制造商承受的各种冲击。罢工之前，波音商用飞机部门的业务似乎有所起色。

　　比克斯称这一罢工决定是“令人失望的”，他表示公司将继续进行设计新机型等其他工作，但没有机械师肯定无法制造飞机。

　　波音公司官员之前表示，他们担心罢工行为会将顾客推向竞争者那里，特别是波音最大的竞争对手空中客车公司。

　　据悉，这次罢工将影响到大约18.4万名负责波音商用飞机及其核心部件组装的机械师，他们分布在西雅图、格雷西姆、奥尔城、威奇托市等地的波音公司分支机构。

　　（牛薇）

　　http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_bi_ge/boeing_union

　　SEATTLE - Machinists at Boeing Co. voted overwhelminglyThursdayto strike, rejecting a three-year contract proposal theirleadershad deemed insulting.

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　　A Boeing spokesman said the strike vote meant the companywouldimmediately stop assembling commercial airplanes, dealing ablow tothe jet maker just as business at its commercial airplanesdivisionappeared to be picking up. We dont intend to assembleairplanesduring this strike, said Charles Bickers, a spokesmanforChicago-based Boeing.

　　The strike will affect about 18,400 Machinists whoassembleBoeings commercial airplanes and some key components intheSeattle area, Gresham, Ore., and Wichita, Kan.

　　The union last went on strike in 1995, when workers walked outfor69 days.

　　Union leaders said their mrs voted 86 percent in favor of astrikebeginning at 12:01 a.m. local time Friday. Under unionrules, thecontract would have been automatically ratified — andworkers wouldhave stayed on the job — unless two-thirds of theunion mrs voted tostrike.

　　Company officials had earlier said they feared a strike wouldsendcustomers to competitors, notably rival Airbus SAS, andquestionedwhether the commercial operations could recover.

　　Bickers called the strike decision disappointing. He saidthecompany could continue to do other work, such as designingnewaircraft, but that there was no way to build airplaneswithoutthose workers.

　　If the company wants to talk, they can call me, MarkBlondin,president of Seattle-based Machinists District Lodge 751,saidafter announcing the strike authorization. Union leaderswereunwilling to provide actual vote tallies for thestrikeauthorization and a sete vote on the contract offer.

　　Leaders had urged mrs to reject this insulting Boeingproposal,saying it fell woefully short on their top issuesincluding pensionpayments and increased health care costs. DistrictLodge 751 isnegotiating for employees in all three states, althoughsome termsdiffer based on location.

　　News of the strike vote was met by a chorus of cheers, hugsandbackslapping by hundreds of workers gathered at the unions hallinsouth Seattle.

　　Larry Weckhorst, a 16-year Boeing veteran from suburbanSeattle,said he anticipated a strike was coming because the moodwas justdifferent from three years ago when the Machinistsaccepted whatthey considered a sub-par contract because of theairlineindustrys dismal state after the 2001 attacks.