STRIKE 2005
Daily Update
- Local Lodge 2766
5 Dec 2005
Boeing workers fret about safety
BY TODD HALVORSON
FLORIDA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL - The union representing striking Boeing machinists asked NASA
on Monday to halt work on a plutonium-powered spacecraft, claiming it is
irresponsible to allow five replacement workers to complete the job.
NASA said the managers and supervisors have the skills needed to complete the
work safely, and the agency intends to press ahead with plans to launch its
Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft next month.
The replacement workers "are certified, have extensive previous experience
and have met the safety criteria," NASA launch services manager Steve
Francois said. "No exceptions to either safety or quality assurance have
been made and none are planned."
The New Horizons mission must be launched during a time-critical 35-day window
that opens Jan. 11. A delay past Feb. 14 would force NASA to postpone the
launch until early 2007, the next time the planets are aligned properly for the
trip.
The mission is one of four that Delta rocket machinists were working on before
they went on strike Nov. 2. Work on the other missions ceased then.
The grounded missions include launch of an advanced weather satellite for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station.
On hold at Vandenberg Air Force Base in
"If it's not safe to work on all the other projects with replacement
workers, it's irresponsible to continue with New Horizons," said Robert
Wood, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
Workers.
NASA officials noted that only five replacement workers are needed to finish
the job that strikers otherwise would be doing on the New Horizons mission.
More than 200 people are required to finish work on the Delta rockets that were
being readied for the other launches.
"That's the difference,"
The union represents 288 local strikers, including the five involved in the
third stage of the Horizons mission. In total, the union represents 1,500
workers who went out on strike in
The New Horizons craft is set for launch on a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket at
At issue are plans to use replacement workers to mate the upper-stage motor
with the spacecraft. The union claims the managers and supervisors are not
properly trained and certified to perform the work.
"They are cutting corners," Wood said. "This is a special
spacecraft. It's one of a kind. With this mission, you want your
first-stringers on the job."
NASA said a crane to be used on the job would be operated by fully trained and
certified workers from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory,
which built the spacecraft. Replacement workers will make the necessary
mechanical and electrical connections.
Boeing says the managers and supervisors have an average of 16 years of
experience on the Delta rocket program, including an average of nine years
doing hands-on work with similar upper-stage motors.
Strike
issues
Boeing machinists went on strike Nov. 2 after the company and their union
failed to come to terms on a new three-year contract. Their previous agreement,
which expired Oct. 23, provided for base annual wages between $14,123 and
$61,755.
Boeing offered a contract calling
for cost-of-living allowances plus a $3,000 lump-sum payment in the first year,
a 2 percent wage increase in the second year and a 2.5 percent increase in the
third year.
The International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers says the pay package
would fail to keep up with inflation. Health care costs to employees would rise
and new hires would not be eligible for medical and life insurance benefits in
retirement, the union says.
No new negotiations are scheduled.