Eaton Mess – The third aerospace strike
October 21, 2024
The sheer size and import of the ongoing strikes by 33,000 Boeing workers and 5,000 Textron Aviation staff has tended to overshadow the much smaller strikes by 525 workers at the Eaton Aerospace plant in Jackson, Michigan, and by about 150 more workers at Fareham, Hampshire, in the UK.
Members of the United Auto Workers in Jackson have been on strike for five weeks, while Fareham workers were on strike on 16-19 October, and will come out on strike on 21-26 and 29 and November 1, 4-9 and 11-16.
In the USA, the United Auto Workers are asking for help with higher health care costs, and hope to end what they see as company attacks on pensions and want the company to abandon plans for a new lower tier of workers.
Union and company officials in Jackson held talks with a federal mediator on Wednesday 16 October, though there has been something of an information blackout about the state of play of negotiations. Activists But believe that the federal mediator will aim to shut down the strike and impose a contract that will be favourable to the company.
At Fareham, the UK Unite union’s members are on strike for higher pay. The Union wants a single-year pay offer that would bring their pay into line with the industry average, but the
company has instead made a multi-year offer of 4% for 2024, 3.5% for 2025 and then 3% for 2026.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a multibillion-pound company making huge profits off the backs of our members, which could easily make a fair pay offer. Our members just want a fair wage, comparable with others across the sector. They are highly skilled and valuable workers, yet they are being denied decent pay.”
Mark Fisher a regional Unite officer said that: “Our members deserve a pay deal that reflects both their skills and in line with what other workers across the aerospace sector are earning.”
An Eaton Ltd spokesman said: “Based on benchmarking with MAKE UK and other aerospace companies with similar manufacturing roles, we believe that Eaton’s pay proposals, base pay and total rewards are competitive in the local market.” The company says that it remains committed to reaching an agreement focused on its employees’ best interests and providing short and medium term stability. The company notes that “approximately 100 employees” are taking strike action, and that while it recognizes their right to take industrial action the company does have contingency plans in place to maintain operations and customer service while it tries to resolve the conflict quickly.
