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March 3, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
UFCW Local 555’s Anderson named
to International Foundation board
Jeff Anderson, secretary-trea- with benefit and compensation
surer of United Food and Com- plans.
mercial Workers Local
Anderson is one of
555, has been named to
44 volunteer voting di-
the board of directors of
rectors, including the
the International Foun-
elected officers and two
dation of Employee
past presidents. The
Benefit Plans (IFEBP).
board, which hasn’t had
a labor trustee from the
The IFEBP is a 33,000-
Pacific Northwest in
member association that
many years, is responsi-
provides research, infor-
ble for the direction and
mation and education to
trustees of multi-and Jeff Anderson control of all affairs of
the Foundation. Timo-
single-employer health
and pension plans throughout thy Gauthier, executive manager
of the National Electrical Con-
the United States and Canada.
Members include trustees and tractors Association (NECA)
administrators from multiem- Oregon-Columbia, also sits on
ployer/Taft-Hartley trust funds; the board, representing manage-
benefits, compensation and HR ment trustees.
“This is a wonderful opportu-
directors from the private sector;
public employee plan managers, nity to not only get insight into
administrators and trustees; and the range of benefit plan options,
service providers, including at- but to help effect change and
torneys, actuaries, accountants make a real difference on a na-
and other consultants who work tional level,” Anderson said.
Workers say no to union at
Boeing South Carolina
Machinists rejected by 3-1 margin
in voting held Feb. 15
Boeing workers in North
Charleston, South Carolina, re-
jected the Machinists union by
74 percent — an almost three-to-
one margin. The tally in the Feb.
15 union vote was 731 for the
International Association of Ma-
chinists and Aerospace Workers
(IAM), and 2,097 against.
Turnout was high, with 2,828
ballots cast out of 3,000 eligible.
“What occurred at Boeing
South Carolina was not a lost
election; it was a process rigged
against the people who do the
work,” said AFL-CIO President
Richard Trumka in a written
statement reacting to the Boeing
vote. “Boeing opened this plant
in South Carolina to try and take
advantage of workers without a
union, to drive down wages and
treat thousands of its employees
like second-class workers.”
IAM represents over 35,000
Boeing employees at 24 U.S. lo-
cations, including the Puget
Sound region of Washington
and Portland, Oregon. Boeing’s
South Carolina workers earn
$23 per hour on average, about
a third lower than the $31 per
hour wage that comparable
union-represented Boeing
workers earn in Washington.
The South Carolina operation
was formerly owned by Vought
Aircraft, a Boeing supplier. In
2007, workers there voted to
join IAM, and ratified a first
contract in November 2008. But
in July 2009, Boeing bought
Vought and terminated the
union contract. Workers voted
to decertify the union two
months later.
That’s when Boeing decided
to expand in South Carolina and
build its 787 Dreamliner final
assembly plant there.
In 2011, the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) deter-
mined that its decision was
made at least in part to punish its
unionized Puget Sound work
force for striking — which
would be a violation of federal
labor law. But the IAM dropped
its NLRB case against Boeing
as part of a contract settlement
later that year.
In 2015, the IAM cam-
paigned to get the South Car-
olina workers to join, but with-
drew five days before a
scheduled union election after
concluding that it lacked major-
ity support at that time.
Campaigning this year in
South Carolina, the IAM once
again faced a vigorous anti-
union campaign by Boeing, as
well as opposition from local
politicians and business groups.
Turn to Page 8
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NEWTON & FROST
THOMAS, COON,
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