Beleaguered Boeing faces major strike threat, plus more Starliner drama – National & International News – THU 12Sep2024
Boeing faces major strike threat and more Starliner drama
Massive landslide and mega tsunami rattled globe for 9 days.
NATIONAL NEWS
Embattled Boeing now faces major strike threat
Following a particularly fraught year for Boeing, a new potentially major challenge is emerging. Over 30,000 Boeing workers will vote tonight on whether to ratify a tentative contract agreement negotiated by their union, the International Association of Machinists (IAM). Union bosses are predicting that angry workers will not ratify the contract agreement and may vote to go on strike.
The contract vote covers workers at a parts plant in Oregon and three factories near Seattle, WA. If workers do not vote to ratify the deal, they will then proceed to a vote on whether to authorize a strike. Unless 2/3 of workers approve a strike, the contract agreement will go into effect, even without a majority vote supporting it.
If a strike is approved, it could begin as soon as midnight tonight, local time. These 30,000 workers represent about one-fifth of Boeing’s total national workforce. The facilities near Seattle are some of Boeing’s largest operations. If they go on strike, 10,000 Boeing suppliers (located in all 50 states) could also be affected since they will not be making deliveries to the plants that will be on strike. There are at least 6 Boeing suppliers in Mississippi, but it’s unclear whether or not they will be impacted by the strike on the West Coast.
The workers voting tonight are dissatisfied with the deal under consideration because it does not restore a pension plan they they were forced to give up in negotiations a few years ago. Workers are also disgruntled with the overall state of the company overall. The company has not only been plagued by high-profile safety and quality assurance scandals, but it is also posting massive losses, which is a threat to workers’ job security. Boeing has not posted a profit since 2018. Since then the company has incurred more than $33 billion in losses, and its credit rating is approaching “junk” status.
More Starliner drama for beleaguered Boeing
There have also been questions swirling regarding the recent conspicuous absence of Boeing officials from Nasa-led press conferences regarding the Starliner space capsule. Many readers are by now familiar with the months-long saga that has left two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, stranded aboard the International Space Station.
In early June, helium leaks and thruster issues materialized as Starliner was docking with the ISS for what was supposed to be an 8-day mission. Boeing and NASA have since collaborated to find a solution, and to determine whether Starliner could safely return the two astronauts to Earth. Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled to be aboard ISS for only 8 days.
There were reportedly heated disagreements. Boeing representatives insisted that Starliner could safely return Williams and Wilmore, while NASA was more cautious. NASA ultimately decided last month that it was too risky to attempt to return Wilmore and Williams on Starliner. Instead they will return in February on a Space-X capsule.
While Boeing representatives did take part in joint briefings with NASA throughout June and July, it has been noted that Boeing did not participate in any briefings during the month of August, when these discussions were apparently coming to a head.
Last week, Starliner was successfully returned to Earth, without its crew. Two Boeing officials were initially scheduled to join a press briefing after the capsule’s touchdown. Then, Boeing decided not to participate in the briefing. This understandably provoked curiosity among the assembled reporters. One reporter asked a NASA official why Boeing had pulled out. The Boeing official is said to have replied, “You will have to ask them”.
The Starliner affair has been a major public relations debacle that Boeing could frankly have done without. The project was already over $1.5 billion over budget and years behind schedule, even before the ill-fated launch in June. With the added humiliation of their competitor Space-X being tasked with returning Williams and Wilmore, the future of Boeing’s entire space crew capsule program is in jeopardy.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Massive landslide and mega tsunami rattled globe for 9 days
Scientists investigating strange tremors detected around the globe in September 2023 have detected the cause. The investigators traced the origin of the massive seismic disturbance to Greenland, where a huge landslide seems to have triggered a mega tsunami. On September 16th, 2023, a 1200 meter high mountain peak collapsed into Greenland’s Dickson fjord, which is within the Arctic circle.
The collapse occurred because a glacier supporting the rock face melted, a process accelerated by climate change. The resulting shockwaves bouncing violently around the fjord triggered tremors that rattled around the entire surface of the Earth for 9 days.
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