Operating Engineers Local 701 put up an area standards picket line at Boeing of Portland on June 10. The picket targeted Integrity Machinery Moving of Portland for allegedly paying workers below area-standard wages and benefits.
Non-union Integrity was on site to move and install new equipment that Boeing purchased from DMC Machinery.
According to Local 701 Business Manager Jimbo Anderson, when the picket line went up early on Monday morning, workers from multiple crafts walked off the job. Among them was an entire crew of ironworkers, members of Iron Workers Local 29.
Shortly after that, a van-load of Local 29 apprentices showed up to join pickets. The apprentices were at the union’s training center located just a few miles from the Boeing plant at 19000 NE Sandy Blvd.
“It was a good hit, we got lots of support and our message was heard loud and clear,” said Anderson.
Workers at Boeing are represented by Machinists Lodge 63 and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).
