Here’s what I saw at three Boeing picket lines in Washington and Oregon.
When I booked a trip to the Pacific Northwest back in April, I didn’t think for a second that it would align perfectly with the largest strike in the United States so far this year. I just thought I’d be hiking and see the world’s largest rubber chicken in Seattle.
But then 33,000 machinists at Boeing voted overwhelmingly to strike, despite the International Association of Machinists bureaucracy pushing workers to accept a sell-out contract. Less than a week later I was lucky enough to meet some of these workers on the picket lines. The flight from Newark to Seattle was six hours on a Boeing plane, so even before reaching the picket I was reminded of just how different mine and so many people’s lives would be if not for the machines these workers build.
After picking up a rental car and a quick meal, I went straight to the picket line at the Boeing factory in Renton, WA, just outside of Seattle. As I drove by to find parking, picketers were dancing along the sidewalk. Before my trip was over I’d go there once more and also visit the picket in Portland, Oregon.
September 17 In Renton, Washington
I don’t think I’ve ever strolled up to a more energetic picket line. As I approached the big tent surrounded by a large crew of workers and their families, someone greeted me with “Welcome to the block party!” It sure felt like one, with all sorts of food from pizza to freshly grilled sausages blanketing two folding tables and loud hip hop blasting from a speaker. The energy from the workers was matched by the constant stream of cars passing by and honking in solidarity.
Yesterday at the Boeing picket in Renton. Workers were very excited about striking and there was lots of honking in solidarity. Some had their families there with them in solidarity. Probably the most energetic picket I’ve ever been to. pic.twitter.com/zLFwAssZvi
— Sam Carliner (@saminthecan) September 18, 2024
Asian, Black, and white workers were dancing, laughing, and talking with one another. It was a beautiful reminder that despite stereotypical depictions of the working class in the United States as mainly chauvinist white men, U.S. workers are diverse and nothing breaks down the very real racial divisions of our class like a shared struggle on the picket line.
I grabbed a sign and stood at the curb soaking it up. Pretty early on it became clear that vehicles were still regularly driving in and out of the facility, almost always honking or raising their fists in solidarity with the workers on strike. Even though these drivers were still helping Boeing run, the striking machinists seemed to mainly just appreciate the honks from these workers and see them as acting in solidarity.
After about an hour I spoke with a machinist who works at the end of the line, checking the quality of the product. He was practically bursting with excitement to be on the picket line. It was his first ever strike. He was ecstatic that I’d come all the way from New Jersey to support, yelling every few minutes at his coworkers “They came all the way from New Jersey!”
He also said in passing that he was surprised I was there to support because “A lot of people don’t like Boeing.” I see where he’s coming from. Boeing has been in the news lately for planes breaking down, and especially in light of this strike I’ve noticed a media campaign trying to pin the blame on the workers who construct the planes. The truth is, these workers are incredibly talented craftspeople spending long hours making machines that improve countless people’s lives and help the world run. It’s the company and bosses who deserve scrutiny for trying to cut corners and ramp up production to save money which degrades the quality of the planes and thus the safety of the workers making them and the passengers using them.
From the still constant stream of honks from passing cars, it seemed that even if people don’t like Boeing the company, they like workers and agree that for their contributions they deserve the 40 percent raise and quality retirement and healthcare that they’re demanding.
I then talked to another machinist who works at the end of the line. “I’m here for my coworkers,” he said, emphasizing that his highly-skilled position pays comfortably, but that he knows so many Boeing workers who aren’t paid a decent wage and that it was important to him to support them. He also expressed some anger with the union leadership which had tried to sell out these workers and prevent a strike. He talked about the union not managing retirement funds well, and donating to “all sorts of political campaigns.” This point really resonated. Especially in this election year, it’s been clear to me that the role of the union bureaucracies is to align workers with the capitalist parties at a time when the labor movement is becoming much more combative. Along with strengthening the parties of the bosses, this work of the union bureaucracies leads many workers to distrust unions as organizations that can be by and for the rank and file. Unions should be organized from below by people like this machinist who was committed to fighting for his less well-off coworkers, not by bureaucrats beholden to the Democrats.
After spending some time at this main tent, I walked down the road where there were smaller (but still highly energetic) pickets sprinkled outside each entrance to the factory. At one of these spots a group of workers kept yelling “do a wheelie” at the passing cars. They were clearly having just as good a time away from the main tent. Eventually I left to check into my hotel and take a desperately needed nap, but very excited to return.
As I was leaving I walked past signs taped to a large traffic pole, reading “THE UNION SOLD US OUT,” and “2014 ALL OVER AGAIN,” the latter referring to the 2014 contract that passed by a mere 51 percent due to pressure on workers from the union leadership. There were also signs encouraging a no vote on this recent contract that the union had been pushing prior to the strike. Another reminder that if the workers win, it’ll be from the fight that the rank and file puts up.
September 18 In Renton, Washington
I returned the following evening to a much different scene. Maybe it was just a weird day and time for the picket. Maybe it was because this was the day that Boeing and the union returned to negotiations which are closed to the rank and file. Maybe it was the news of Boeing furloughing thousands of white collar employees. Whatever the case, far fewer people were out on the picket line, and the mood was much more passive.
I arrived at the location where there’d been about 80 people celebrating the day before. This time there were just five workers holding it down, not talking to each other much, though occasionally one would crack a joke to another. Despite the small numbers, these workers seemed to be in good spirits.
At one point a pedestrian walked by and while waiting to cross the busy intersection, asked about the negotiations. One of the more talkative workers responded that if they don’t get the 40 percent raise that they’re demanding, then “We’ll vote no again.”
I walked down to some of the other locations. The first one I approached had about ten workers. A child of a worker, maybe about eight years old, sat in a camping chair blasting a horn at passing cars. Some workers stood in clusters making small talk.
I walked to another entrance covered by a small but mighty group of workers who were putting all their effort into getting honks from passing cars and hollering “Just give me my money!” One or two cars flipped off or yelled racial slurs at the workers as they passed, an unfortunate reminder that there’s still people out there who are hostile to class struggle, especially when Black and Brown workers are part of it. Still, only about two people like this passed. Dozens if not hundreds honked in support.
Again, I noticed that whenever vans drove in and out of the factory the drivers tended to honk and express solidarity, and the picketers seemed to appreciate it. I asked a worker about it and he simply said, “Yeah they’re in a different union. I think the forklift drivers?” I thought to myself how powerful it would be to see these drivers join the strike, showing clearly that Boeing is nothing without workers in all points of production, from the machinists building planes to drivers transporting materials. Sadly, labor law has greatly attacked the historical practice of workers in different unions striking in solidarity with their class siblings who go on strike for better pay, benefits, and conditions. But at least at the Renton factory, there’s clearly some driver/machinist solidarity that can be built upon for greater shared struggle.
Later on I heard a younger worker telling his fellow picketers about his typical work shift which starts around 2am and runs through to the morning. He said, “It’s not too bad,” but he and his coworkers joked that if he wants a girlfriend he’ll have to meet her in the factory and take her on a date in the cafeteria. A worker who’d been there a decade at least replied, “I’ve seen this work break up so many families,” referring to the long hours that seem to be the norm for most of the machinists.
While it didn’t come up at these pickets, there has been much reporting on how Boeing uses forced overtime to make workers labor for long hours, with some workers spending 70 hours a week at the factory.
September 21 In Portland, Oregon
After a drive down the 101, I was in Portland where I had the opportunity to check out another picket at a different factory. This one was smaller than the first one I attended, about 30 people maybe, but it ended up being the most overtly friendly picket of the three. Just about everyone along the sidewalk outside the factory was smiling as I pulled up.
I arrived at a small tent with two people and we immediately started talking. I asked how they felt about the strike. One said she’d start looking for work soon because she didn’t want to be sitting around with nothing to do. The other seemed more content, adding “we’ve had years to prepare for this.”
I soon learned from conversations that this factory in particular had about 1,000 workers and while the strike was taking place there were 4 scabs inside trying to fill the tasks of about 30-something people and operate machines that they had no clue how to use. I was also happy to learn that this picket had received support from many other unions including firefighters, representatives from the local AFL-CIO, and Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, to name a few. Plenty of passing cars also showed solidarity with their horns.
“I think how these negotiations go will affect how all negotiations in the future go,” one worker said. Adding that “If Boeing can get away with cutting retirement, what’s stopping other companies from doing it? If they can go after healthcare, other companies will.” He clearly understood this strike not just as a fight for himself and his coworkers, but for the larger labor movement.
I also learned from talking to another worker that the union was in charge of scheduling who showed up for which picketing shifts, and at least at this factory that meant workers were mostly only scheduled to picket with people they’d typically work with inside the factory. This type of bureaucratic organization of the picket lines is the norm and presents an obstacle to this strike and many others becoming as powerful as possible. Pickets should be spaces that bring out as many workers and community members as possible. In fact, the pickets should serve as spaces where workers have the opportunity to decide how to organize their strike rather than having the union bureaucracy dictate tactics to the workers. These could be spaces where Boeing workers try to convince drivers to join them on strike, affirm their most important demands, and strategize the fight so that the picket can last the long-haul and no contracts skimp out on their demands.
Up up up with the workers. Down down down with the occupation.https://t.co/Ra5OSwgnbb pic.twitter.com/YRMGFIggxk
— Sam Carliner (@saminthecan) September 21, 2024
As I headed out I saw some type of box for telecommunications just inside the factory lawn, with “free Palestine fuck Boeing” scrawled across the top. It was powerful to see this message right outside the factory given the role that Boeing is playing in the current Israeli genocide in Gaza. Boeing has long been one of the top weapons manufacturers, and reporting from The Intercept highlights the company’s direct, currently expanding role in Israel’s genocidal campaign.
With no context of who wrote the message or how long it had been there, I don’t want to make too many assumptions. Maybe it was from an unrelated protest. But it made me hopeful that the historic movement for Palestine can find its way onto the picket line in solidarity with these workers fighting for the company to pay them what they deserve. The historic, youth-led movement for Palestine in the United States has shown that imperialist countries should not be written off as sites of struggle against oppression of the world’s most vulnerable people. Meanwhile, the Boeing strike and other recent struggles from the U.S. working class shows the unparalleled role that workers play in making everything, including imperialist companies like Boeing, run. These two struggles, the movement for Palestine and the strike at Boeing, showing up for one another is a scenario that could greatly change how each movement understands its own power and the role that the U.S. working class can play in resisting oppression and all forms of imperialism.
So far, there have only been a few examples of connections being made between the striking Boeing machinists and the anti-imperialist movement for Palestine. The bureaucratic control of the union leadership also is likely to present an obstacle to more militancy in Boeing workers, whether it be the workers taking up anti-imperialist demands or organizing the strike from the rank and file. Despite these limits, I can’t help but feel moralized by these picket lines and what they show about the growing desire of the U.S. working class to fight for everything we deserve.