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USA: The first Boeing World Conference took place in Portland, Oregon in late March, bringing together trade union representatives from the mother company in the US and Canada as well as trade unionists from major supply companies in Australia, Italy, Germany, Japan and Sweden.
The inclusion of supply chain companies and its unions was important given the increase in the outsourcing of work by Boeing to suppliers.
The participants discussed the situation of industrial relations with Boeing and its suppliers including a report, which was given by an Australian delegate who described the week-long anti-union fight in a company maintaining Boeing planes.
“Just as Boeing is a global company, the unions representing its workers must act like a global union,” said International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) President R. Thomas Buffenbarger. “No longer can Boeing workers in one nation afford to bargain or organize in isolation. Our goal is fair treatment for Boeing’s global workforce, without regard to language, borders or nationality.”
Conference participants agreed on the necessity of a “global alliance” within Boeing and its suppliers and initiated the setting-up of a worldwide network to exchange information. The participants also called on Boeing to respect and strengthen human and workers’ rights and to follow the example of its competitor EADS that negotiated and signed an International Framework Agreement with the International Metalworkers’ Federation.
“As one of the most successful corporations in the world, it is incumbent on Boeing to set the highest standards when it comes to fundamental human rights, which include the right to form labour unions and to engage in collective bargaining,” Buffenbarger said.
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