On September 12th 2024 approximately 32,000 workers organized under District 751 and District W24 of the IAM (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union) working for the Boeing company overwhelmingly voted no on their proposed tentative agreement and likewise voted yes to strike. This is the first time in 16 years that a full contract has been on the table for negotiation. The tentative agreement included changes to wages, health care, mandatory overtime, and more. The last major contract was passed after almost a 2 month strike, though with significant turnover and an inexperienced workforce the majority of current union members were not a part of that action. While the company and leadership in the union would like to suggest this was a great offer, the rank and file at Boeing would beg to differ.

The initial demands the union proposed was for a 40% raise over the life of the 4 year contract while Boeing responded with an offer of only 25%. At first glance a "reasonable" person may think that the offer from Boeing is a good one that the members should have accepted. Once one decides to look deeper into the issue though we can see why members are willing to say no for the chance for more. Bad contracts being extended, low wages in a high cost of living area, and the desire to reinstate their pension plan have pushed these workers to say no.

We applaud the workers’ desire to strike and their voting against the defeatist tentative agreement, going against the wishes of their District President who was quoted as saying that "We recommended acceptance because we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike.

Of course there is no guarantee of success when we are compelled to fight, though there will forever be nothing but an increase in misery for workers who are unwilling to come together in their collective interests and take a stand against the capitalist class. Besides the opportunity for material gain that can be had from collective action it is also a training moment for the workers involved in potential future struggles, and can be a point of valorization for workers in other industries that can see their brothers and sisters openly and proudly saying no! We will not take it anymore! Workers across the world who are willing to fight are a beacon for others who at times may have little to no hope that they even have the ability to push back against the bosses, or union fat cats.

Whether it’s from reading statements from company or union officials, or their lap dogs in the mainstream media,we can draw parallels in how this contract is being sold to workers by remembering the most recent national rail union negotiations in the USA. Not only by looking at what these figures bring up but also what facts that they leave out. Company officials in both industries love to tout the size of the percentage wage increase especially in regards to contracts that have been passed prior. One of the most obvious issues with this though, is the fact that these talking heads don’t mention the reality of record inflation across the United States, nor the fact that both the railroads and Boeing are employing less people across the board than during prior contracts. While numbers may look impressive when they are first seen, they become increasingly less impressive when you account for the fact that prior contracts for most of the unionized workers within America have been nothing but capitulation for the last two decades. Workers who were in the past, clear members of the labor aristocracy, have either started the process of, or are being increasingly proletarianized. Regarding Boeing, the rejection of the proposed agreement is an obvious sign of the will to fight against this current fate.

It should be of no surprise to anyone that has been following the situation at Boeing to see these workers pridefully say no to a contract that isn’t worth the paper it was written on. Workers with the IAM took a strike sanction vote at T Mobile Park in Seattle in July of this year and a landslide vote, showed 99.9% of the rank and file were in support of striking if a meaningful contract couldn’t be reached by the September deadline. Along with the show of force in Seattle there have been numerous workplace actions in the lead up to this contract vote. Workers across all facilities have been marching on the job, and using horns along with music to harass management on the shop floor. All of these actions are a positive development within the US working class. The more that workers take up an openly antagonistic relationship with the bourgeoisie the clearer it becomes that we have distinct and separate interests. Members of both the company and the union try to promote a perspective that suggests that Labor and Capital can go happily hand in hand into the future. That their upcoming successes are bound up in one another, and when one wins so does the other.

Here is a quote from IAM leadership that explains exactly how they view their relationship to Boeing "Ultimately, we love this company and couldn’t be more proud of the jobs we do or the products we build.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Labor’s success will be in understanding its position in an historical movement. We know that in this parasitic relationship within class society what is good for the goose is not good for the gander. When one takes up this collaborationist perspective promoted by leadership within the IAM, the only win is for the companies, and trade union bureaucrats. When leadership of organizations for worker’s struggle defang themselves, the company is emboldened and will consistently try to take more from less, whether that is cutting wages, and benefits or threatening the loss of jobs by shipping them elsewhere. We applaud the workers at Boeing for banding together to defend their immediate interest but that must also be coupled with a rejection of this collaborationist perspective. Workers and their bosses do not win together. When workers secure higher wages or better working conditions this directly cuts into the profit that is accumulated by the company. This real distinction between producers and exploiters is at the very heart of class society, and will never be undone by the well wishes of romantic "leaders" within the workers movement.

Workers will only ever win in the historical sense when they band together, under the leadership of a revolutionary fighting organization, the International Communist Party with the explicit goal of striking the death blow to class society. Of course not every battle is of such serious importance but workers must become aware of the situation they find themselves within, and recognize that antagonism and not capitulation is the answer to the woes in class society. We must attempt to build fighting organizations of the class that openly recognize the antagonistic relationship between Labor and Capital, and are willing to organize and defend the widest swathe of workers. When leaders in a union wax poetic about the love they have for the bosses, they should be met with a swift kick out the door!