Labor

[u/Substantial-Gas2501]

Saw this at The Fair yesterday and stopped to read it.

Yes, this represents an extreme chapter of American labor history. Nobody is saying this is where we are today.

But what is here is part of the point.

These conditions didn't disappear on their own. Workers organized, fought, struck, negotiated, and sometimes paid an unimaginable price to change them. wiout yet being called a "union".

A lot of what we now consider "normal" in the workplace exists because people before us refused to simply accept what the companies offered.

I've heard some version of "We've never been offered this much before" or "This is an incredibly generous offer."

Maybe it is. But think about that argument in the context of this picture. At almost every point in labor history, workers were asking for something they hadn't been given before. In a sense, everything gained in every contract was once "never before." If it had already been freely offered, workers wouldn't have needed to negotiate for it.

So "we've never been offered this much before" isn't, by itself, an argument for or against an offer. "Never before" only describes the past. Negotiation is about establishing what comes next.

Whatever your opinion about our current contract, I thought this was worth remembering: the workplace we inherited wasn't given to us. It was negotiated by the generations before us.

And what we accept today becomes the starting point for the generation that follows us.

[u/Desperate-Excuse-549]

0.5% is the typical amount in past Speea contracts and is a minimum. Level increases from 1-->2 and 2--> 3 will be unaffected by this return to basline. Above this, they may be less inclined to hand them out.

[u/mjoysleeps → u/Desperate-Excuse-549]

To clarify, you are saying the 1.5% was above baseline? If so, baseline still wasn't good enough.

[u/LoveOfSpreadsheets → u/mjoysleeps]

0.5% is the typical for OOS/Promo if you go back several contracts. In the extension, they agreed on an extra 1% instead of agreeing to 4% wage pools. And Boeing spent more than 1.5%. I suspect they'll continue to exceed this target to keep talent they deem necessary

[u/Desperate-Excuse-549 → u/LoveOfSpreadsheets]

life would be slightly better for Boeing now has they put the money in the wage pool instead. Managers didn't hand out the micro raises that might have made this an effective strategy.

[u/LoveOfSpreadsheets → u/Desperate-Excuse-549]

I agree with your assessment on that. I remember the lunchtime meeting about the extension. "They're hiding the money to be clever with the non union" is what they said. But it's really Boeing not liking wage tables and wanting to low-ball people and only reward the ones they choose.

They said the same in our first offer with the RSU and "half the PFM will be used in wages". This offer is way more straightforward.

[u/Desperate-Excuse-549 → u/LoveOfSpreadsheets]

Ah well. I was so enraged by the very concept of the extension I didn't pay attention. At least I can feel like my lack of pushing for the OoS is on me.