EVERETT, Wash. --- Matt Gettmann began working in finance at Boeing Co. last year, and it wasn't long before he found himself watching, stunned, as union members prepared for what became an eight-week strike.
The work stoppage cost the company billions in deferred revenue and caused some of the delays in production of its new 787 at a time when Boeing was growing increasingly frustrated with labor squabbles.
"There would be a parade of people, thousands and thousands of them, making noises and screaming" -- right in the factory, Mr. Gettmann said. "That's the employee-employer relationship? It's shocking."
On Wednesday, the union was dealt a crushing blow when Boeing decided to open its new 787 line with nonunion workers in South Carolina and not the Seattle suburbs where it has had a presence for generations.
It is another sign that it might be time for the Machinists union to re-evaluate its relationship with Boeing, even as the union argues that its workers offer the best value for the company and that it is committed to making sure future work lands in Washington state.
"This looks very much like a company that's tired of dealing with this union, and they've found a way out," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with Teal Group. "The union needs to put aside the concept of who's right and who's wrong, and look at who's winning and who's losing. This is not going well from their perspective."
In the next three to five years, Boeing is expected to decide on replacement planes for its best-selling 737 and 777 models and where they will be built. It's also trying to land a contract to build a 767 tanker for the Air Force.
South Carolina offered Boeing $170 million in incentives and relief from sales taxes on things like fuel used in test flights, and Boeing's workers there voted to decertify their union last month.
South Carolina ranks third-lowest in percentage of employees who have joined a union or similar association, at 3.9 percent, without a single work day lost to strikes in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
ADDITION TO HAVE STATEWIDE BENEFIT
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he expects Boeing's decision to build a jet airliner plant in North Charleston will benefit the entire state.
Mr. Sanford told WIS-TV in Columbia on Thursday that he expects the pattern of Boeing's impact to be similar to that of BMW when the automaker built its first manufacturing plant in the United States in Greer.
Mr. Sanford notes that BMW suppliers have a network across the state. And he points out that Boeing's plans for the 787 jetliner are three times larger than BMW's initial announcement. Boeing's is the largest single announcement in state history, both in terms of jobs and investment.
South Carolina lawmakers offered Boeing an incentive package worth $170 million, if the company spends at least $750 million and creates at least 3,800 jobs within seven years.
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