April 24, 2019, WASHINGTON — A statement from IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr.:
“I want to thank Sen. Sherrod Brown for sending a letter to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Sen. Brown is a champion for working families and always stands up for the rights of working people.
“The safety of the flying public and the people who build Boeing airplanes has always and will always be our No. 1 priority. We feel the best way to address safety and quality issues in the workplace is to create a culture of honest communication between labor and management. Our union has more than 80 year’s experience representing workers and partnering with Boeing, including during World War II, to produce industry-leading aircraft. When we unite, no worker in the world can outperform, or drive more innovation than workers right here at home.
“The 35,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers working for the Boeing Co. believe that when unions and business collaborate on workplace issues, our economy prospers and all working people benefit. A good first step toward a better workplace would be for Boeing to agree to card check neutrality in South Carolina. The IAM and our 35,000 members at Boeing, including IAM members who work on the Flight Line at Boeing South Carolina, stand ready to assist Boeing in addressing any production issues and to continue to build some of the best products in the world.”
###
The IAM represents more than 35,000 Boeing employees at locations nationwide. Flight readiness technicians and inspectors in South Carolina voted on May 31, 2018 to join the IAM. Since then, Boeing has refused to negotiate with 178 flight readiness technicians and inspectors at its North Charleston, S.C. manufacturing facility.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents 600,000 active and retired members in the North American aerospace, defense, airline, manufacturing, transportation, woodworking, the federal sector and other industries. Machinists Union members work at Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, General Electric, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson and more. Visit goIAM.org for more information.