SEATTLE — History, sometimes, has a way of repeating itself in some ways. At least that's what Andrew Hedden, the associate director of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington, says when it comes to labor and Boeing.
“The days of the Boeing Bust and how similar that is to the way things are today," Hedden said. "You have a company in crisis, you have a workforce that’s feeling squeezed,” Hedden explained that Boeing nearly went bankrupt in the early 1970s and laid off about 60% of its workforce.
“Resorting to layoffs like that really set the tone at Boeing from that point forward when the company had trouble, it would usually balance the books on the backs of its workforce," he said. By 1977, Hedden said Boeing had recovered and was making record profits.
"The workforce was pretty upset that the company was making so much money but hadn’t caught up and wasn’t passing those gains to its workforce," he said. After that, the union went on strike for about 40 days.
“That’s significant because since that time, there’s been seven or eight strikes and the union has always been able to get a better deal after it goes on strike," he said. Machinists are now two weeks into the current strike against Boeing. Members tell KING 5 the company needs to make up for the last decade.
“We’ve already seen that with the current strike, Boeing offering a more lucrative deal after the strike had been going on for a week," Hedden said. “It showed that when the members show up and are united, they can get more from the company, and I think that’s what you’re seeing right now.”
Hedden said the longer workers are willing to stay out, the more desperate Boeing will become.
“Remembering what went on in the 1970s can be a way to think about what’s going on today and maybe do something differently and hopefully Boeing will start to recognize its workforce is united and it’s not going to continue to settle,” Hedden said.