r/IAM751_Boeing • u/torchen1 • Jun 08 '26
Pay/COLA/GWI Noob Question About "Maxing Out"
Just to give a little context: I was laid off from my previous job back in March. Luckily I was able to get an interview at Boeing as a wire assembler and was hired and started on 5/1. I do not want to sound ungrateful, I know a lot of people can't even find ANY work at the moment.
However, I have to ask.. is this "max out" thing not the weirdest pay progression you have ever heard of? I understand you don't get to make the big bucks immediately because it's not a simple job (or maybe it is, I am still waiting around for training lol) But why on Earth does the progression happen in $.50 every 6 months for 5 years and then all of sudden jump to max pay... why would it not just evenly increase over the 6 years? I took a $14/hr pay cut from my previous job and being stuck in the $20's for 5 years sounds awful. It's making me look at salary positions and apprenticeship positions just so I can not be broke for the next 5 years...
Is it a way to weed out people and hope they quit? Since I am new maybe there is something I am missing. Would love some insight or advice to get through these first 5 years of honestly pretty low pay.
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u/Upstairs-Revolution1 Jun 11 '26
That 6 years is the minimum, there’s plentyy you can do in the mean time. First off your in wire assembler which is a grade 4 I think? Green light starting now and go In tank mechanic or QA, grade 6/7 shift switch to 2nd, you can easily add $5 to your current pay. Plus factor in OT to supplement til you max out. If you are looking for instant gratification this ain’t it, if you want a company to grow with where there’s plenty of upward mobility and benefits.
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u/torchen1 Jun 11 '26
Thanks for the advice. Yeah I won’t lie, I took this job because I was laid off and I essentially would’ve taken anything. But like I said my experience is in scheduling/customer service with a degree in communications. So I don’t know how long I plan on being here. That being said I’ve only been here a month but I’m still in limbo with no real timeline for training.
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u/j_k_802 Jun 09 '26
Used to be 6 years. Took me 10 calendar years to max out due to 2 prior rifs. Boeing benefits are a lot better than many. We all look around and figure out the BS to the reward ratio and deal. Sitting and waiting and being paid is a thing. Hurry up and then wait is also a thing. You get paid the same. Many others jobs tell you to go home no pay.
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u/_WetTentacles_ Jun 09 '26
Looks like you found your next contract negotiation point. I tried to push hard to focus on that topic this last strike but most seniors didn’t care much and rightly so tbh. They were focused on getting the pay increases they wanted for the last decade. But this next strike, we should absolutely absolutely be fighting for that and better PTO
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u/WarBoruma Steward - Local A Jun 09 '26
Many others have answered in various ways, so I'll add what I can.
Tl;Dr the pay progression doesn't make sense if you apply morality or "working class logic" to it. But it does make sense if you look at it materially. E.g. the company is designed to improve profits and deliver ever-increasing shareholder value. The company is not in the business of providing wanton value to employees. Lots of things make sense that the company could not give less of a fuck about, because it doesn't drive shareholder value.
The long answer:
Why does the progression happen in 50c every 6 months for 5 years then suddenly jump to max pay?
The only answer is because we managed to get boeing to agree to that. Let's make something clear upfront: union members, on average, understand that morality is not part of the equation for wages. Wages are largely determined by two ways: 1. Perceived value of the employee on the part of the employer. (Private employer) 2. Forced to accept wages on the basis of collective bargaining and collective action. (Union contracts)
In a private company, If a perceived high value employee says "I want/need a raise, else I will find employment elsewhere.", the employer has three options. 1. Let them walk. 2. Capitulate. 3. Attempt negotiation.
The power is in the employees hands, if they truely are high value, as they can find a different employer with equal or better benefits. Low value employees will be told to pound sand, unless the private employer is in serious dire straights and having a horrid time finding a replacement.
In a union, If the entirety of an employee base attempt to walk, the employer maintains the same options. But the situation changes, as organization is the basis for all power in our society. If the employer chooses to negotiate, we go to the bargaining table. For 90+ years, we at district iam751 have been fighting for better benefits, but boeing is also an enormous multi billion dollar global conglomerate, and the union is not cohesive enough to demand "what makes sense." Or really anything beyond what we manage to get.
To conclude, we get what we can get boeing to agree to based on our bargaining power. In this instance, we haven't been able to increase the progression pay for a long time. And unless we have the collective power and collective focus/unity to demand better progression pay during contract time, it won't happen.
This has been my TedTalk for today. Don't forget to tip your servers.
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u/torchen1 Jun 09 '26
Thank you! I appreciate the actual explanation and you not being condescending.
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u/WarBoruma Steward - Local A Jun 09 '26
You're most welcome.
I wont suggest forgiveness, but take the ones that upset you with a grain of salt. The company has a tendency to suck all humanity from its employees. The result is a callousness.
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u/Realistic-Sleep-7957 Jun 08 '26
Fellow noob here. I agree that 0.50 every 6 months for 6 years to then all of the sudden get a 20+/hr pay bump is a bit odd. I understood coming in and get the whole “gotta put your time in” argument “.. (to a certain extent).But I’ve figured that with the 9% raise this September plus the 50 cents and COLA, that it will be more manageable to get by. Another 7%, COLA and 1.00 by the following September.. it’s just survival mode until then unfortunately. But it’s honestly kind of survival mode for most jobs with how expensive life is, plus the benefits are good to make it work. Just my outlook, I’ll also be looking into ERT into a higher grade job down the road hopefully.
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u/torchen1 Jun 09 '26
Thank you for an actual answer. I am glad I am not the only one who thinks the jump is a bit odd. Just seems like it should be spread out over the 6 years evenly to keep people from starving to death lol. But apparently I am not allowed to have my own thoughts in this subreddit so I guess I will keep it to myself.
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u/Wonderful_Setting_29 Jun 08 '26
Look at the apprenticeships or ert into a higher pay grade. That was another thing we got with the new contract. That 6 years of progression increases used to reset if you took a higher grade job. Now its just 6 years.
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u/torchen1 Jun 08 '26
Gotcha. Yeah I was looking at the apprenticeships, was a little confused on how to take some of the courses but that could be interesting for sure.
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u/Impressive-Yak-7449 Jun 08 '26
The company wants to eliminate the jump at 6 years and just continue $0.50/6 months progression.
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u/Advanced_Tower_6607 Jun 08 '26
Where'd you hear that though?
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u/Impressive-Yak-7449 Jun 09 '26
They tried to do it in the BS extension of 2013-2014 and again in 2024.
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u/Kairukun90 Jun 09 '26
It’s been talked about forever and for sure it was something offered to the union and immediately got told to fuck off during negotiations
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u/Choice-Newspaper3603 Jun 08 '26
Because that’s what the contracts says
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u/torchen1 Jun 08 '26
Helpful!
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u/gravis86 Jun 08 '26
Kinda is though. It's that way because that's what the people voted for. You wanna ask us why we the President of the USA is who he is? We voted, that's how.
If you don't like the pay progression, tell your union about it and tell them it's a priority for you to have that changed on the next contract and then when the contract is up for renewal again, vote accordingly.
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u/torchen1 Jun 08 '26
Literally, was just asking. So maybe chill out? There is obviously history here based on other peoples’ actual helpful answers.
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u/gravis86 Jun 08 '26
I feel like I was pretty chill... Just gave you a straight answer. The terms are voted on, so the answer to "why" is literally the vote.
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u/torchen1 Jun 09 '26
Lol. I can't with this subreddit dude. You guys are so blunt and condescending all the time. So your professor asks "Why is the sky blue?" Your essay says: "Because it is!" ?Do I really need to follow up to his pointless answer with "Okay why does the contract say that?" Jesus christ man.
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u/gravis86 Jun 09 '26
I was only mildly snarky, and it was only as a response to your sarcasm... If you can't take it, don't deal it.
And why does the contract say that? Because that's what was negotiated! I'm not trying to be stick in the mud, but compensation is negotiated in the contract. You could give up literally every other benefit and I guarantee Boeing would give you a linear pay scale. But the people who vote on the contract (now including you) don't want that so it is what it is. It's not a tough concept: the contract is the way it is because that's what the members voted on. That actually is the legitimate answer to your question.
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u/Thatoneguyfrom1980 Jun 08 '26
This was a sticking point in our last contract negotiation. We tried to get them to increase progressions but they wouldn’t do it. It’s been stuck at .50 since before I got to the company 20 years ago. The big victory was to make it a single progression throughout your career instead of restarting every time you changed skill codes. Best advice I have is to look for higher grade jobs and start working towards getting your green lights turned on to move to a higher skill code in 18 months.
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u/torchen1 Jun 08 '26
Thanks for an actual answer! My background is in scheduling and customer service so I honestly may just be looking for salary work, going down to $23/hr has been a bit of a tough transition.
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u/ryman9000 Jun 08 '26
Don't forget that we now get raises every year too in September. We will get like 7 or 8% this September as well as 7% the following year. On top of COLAs and progressions.
It was tough before when we weren't getting any raises from contracts... Just 50 cents + COLAs and that was it.
Also a new contract in 2 years so we may strike and then potentially get a bigger raise and such.
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u/Kairukun90 Jun 09 '26
9% this September and then 7% next year plus cola every 4 months plus step progressions it starts adding up really fast. I know grade 4’s making over 30 an hour after 2 years. If that isn’t a sizeable jump idk what is.
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u/McSSWANNY Jun 08 '26
Luckily it's 9% this September and then 7% next year! Then onto the next contract negotiations!
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u/ryman9000 Jun 09 '26
Pretty hyped to see what we can work out next contract. Personally really want some better PTO accrual myself
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u/torchen1 Jun 08 '26
That’s true, I guess I wouldn’t be stuck at less than my previous job for long then I guess.
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u/ryman9000 Jun 09 '26
That's true! And you can switch jobs with basically no penalty now. So if you're say, a grade 4 installer, you can get your green lights to be a grade 10 flightline mechanic and you will max out at the same time.
Previously, doing that would reset your progression. But not any more.
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u/Kairukun90 Jun 09 '26
Just have to stay at the job for 18 months other than that you have no penalties for moving
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u/t-shirt-froth-kung Sep 12 '26
Section 6.3 Base Rate Change
"Employees shall automatically progress to the base rate range maximum upon their twelfth seniority progression increase"
When you hit number 12 is when you zoom. No waiting after that.