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'I never plan to fly on it': Boeing workers blow whistle on 787 plant
When Boeing broke ground on its new factory near Charleston in 2009, the plant was trumpeted as a state-of-the-art manufacturing hub, building one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. But (www.smh.com.au) עוד...
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It started when Mcdonald-Douglas bought Boeing with Boeing's money and infiltrated all the employees from them to Boeing. It included their failed practices, which they believed they could do it right eventually.
I really don't get it... this article really seemed to focus on the "debris" left in the bowels of the aircraft. I understand why that is a safety issue, but Boeing employees keep pointing this out. Aren't they the ones responsible for cleaning that stuff up? And then they blow the whistle on management for it? And then the article goes on to say how Boeing chose CHS for there plant because it had low union representation. I am sure that's true, but it does make me feel like the author of this is just trying to paint Boeing in a bad light, rather than give us the facts. Am I wrong here?
What I read are articles quoting present, or retired inspectors. But yes, other employees can, and do rat out the process, a lot.
But true or not, the fact that the DOD was refusing to accept planes from Boeing, and that so many inspectors are coming forward, shows that there are fundamental problems as Boeing. Some could be worker dislike of the working conditions, and unions or not, a union would have a hard time fixing the kind of issues that Boeing seems to be lumbering under. Perhaps the 787 will crash and the cause will be found to be shards of metal, or a tool left in a place where it migrates to an electrical panel, or some other sensitive area.
Boeing has been decidedly more and more antiunion, and that can really piss of workers who already feel the heavy hand of the top heavy management breathing down their necks. I worked at a union job as one of my first jobs out of high school, so I am the last one to defend unions, but a strong union, and strong management that backs their employees goes a hell of a long way to job satisfaction, and an incredible product than strong handed management trying to kill the unions and devalue the workers.
So, when will this change? it's part of a much larger picture. There is a ruthless drive for profit, and to feed the investor class that has swept the country. Someone said that the minute the ink dried on the Bush II tax cut that slashed the capital gains tax rate, they effectively declared open season on unions, and employees in general. And what we have seen is companies slashing their workforce and their stock rising. Prior to that, the stock would be sinking. Part of the reason why the bike company Schwinn folded was because management devoted so much time to killing their unions, they missed the changes in their industry and market.
Boeing is a huge corporation, they have tried a lot of creative means to screw their workers and still extract massive profits. I'm sure their friends in government will bail them out yet again. And the American worker, unable to learn from past mistakes, will continue to flounder and suffer...
But true or not, the fact that the DOD was refusing to accept planes from Boeing, and that so many inspectors are coming forward, shows that there are fundamental problems as Boeing. Some could be worker dislike of the working conditions, and unions or not, a union would have a hard time fixing the kind of issues that Boeing seems to be lumbering under. Perhaps the 787 will crash and the cause will be found to be shards of metal, or a tool left in a place where it migrates to an electrical panel, or some other sensitive area.
Boeing has been decidedly more and more antiunion, and that can really piss of workers who already feel the heavy hand of the top heavy management breathing down their necks. I worked at a union job as one of my first jobs out of high school, so I am the last one to defend unions, but a strong union, and strong management that backs their employees goes a hell of a long way to job satisfaction, and an incredible product than strong handed management trying to kill the unions and devalue the workers.
So, when will this change? it's part of a much larger picture. There is a ruthless drive for profit, and to feed the investor class that has swept the country. Someone said that the minute the ink dried on the Bush II tax cut that slashed the capital gains tax rate, they effectively declared open season on unions, and employees in general. And what we have seen is companies slashing their workforce and their stock rising. Prior to that, the stock would be sinking. Part of the reason why the bike company Schwinn folded was because management devoted so much time to killing their unions, they missed the changes in their industry and market.
Boeing is a huge corporation, they have tried a lot of creative means to screw their workers and still extract massive profits. I'm sure their friends in government will bail them out yet again. And the American worker, unable to learn from past mistakes, will continue to flounder and suffer...
Maybe they know about it from internal memos and reports rather than being the ones who left it there and did nothing?
Unions or no unions, there is a corporate culture that doesn't respect employee's for coming forward with problems. It seems to be at all employment levels within the company. Every single business in the world will have a problem at some point. It's how you handle them that separates the great businesses from mediocre. Boeing is now below mediocre. It's killing people. When stuff like this happens in the military, they do a stand-down. Time for Boeing to do a stand-down and take a good hard look at itself.
Check back here in no more than ten years to see if this came true: I think Boeing will be sold or merged if they can't find some really good people to take over and fix things because they simply cannot continue the way they've been doing things.