When 1671 equals 1165

The AZ Daily Star recently published a couple articles showing how the union at Raytheon is dropping five years straight. Too bad reporter Becky Pallack didn't look deeper into the LM-2 form. She would have noticed the union has less clout than reported. I give her a 'B' for effort. She did contact President Jimbo Watson, and he confirmed the union is holding strong at Raytheon, even increasing in numbers! *chuckle*

What keeps her reports from being an 'A' is the simple fact that she could have dug deeper into the form and asked questions like "where are these active members employed?" "How many work where?"

IAM-933 represent Boeing, HE Microwave, CAE Reflectone, RMS Rescue & Fire, and L-3 Communications in addition to Raytheon Missile Systems. How many members does that leave at RMS?

Here are the facts, as reported by President Harry Anthros using the LM-2 for 2007. Also the two previous annual statements of representation. It shows total membership, the number of active members who have a vote, and the others with no voice.
Year -- Total members -- Active Members -- retired/other
2007 -- 1671 ----------------- 1165 ----------------- 506
2006 -- 1699 ----------------- 1258 ----------------- 441
2005 -- 1765 ----------------- 1392 ----------------- 373

The union has 1671 total members. But only 1165 of them count. The rest are retired members, or unemployed. Notice the "Other" category is growing, padding the numbers to make it look like strength.

With only 1165 active members across all the companies they represent, and aproximately 1730 laborers at Raytheon, it appears they fall below the 50% representation mark at RMS.

IAM 933 strength falls 5 years straight

It looks like the Arizona Daily Star has discovered that our Local 933 is loosing membership faster than it can be replaced. For five years in a row they have seen a decline. At this pace, it won't be long before they are officially recognised as a minority at Raytheon Missile Systems. That day will be their last at our factory. The azstarnet has this article on the subject. http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/allheadlines/238771.php

Bring our factory into the 21st century, Vote to Decertify IAMAW 933!

Raytheon is a Greedy Company! (Not)

It's been a while since something stirred me to blog as much as the things I saw this week. Raytheon has debunked another of the IAMAW 933's claim to be our protector.

Wednesday I saw Raytheon hourly workers painting and beautifying the plant. Their normal jobs? Assemblers and Testers. But we are going through a short period of work slowdown. The thing any greedy evil company would do is to lay those workers off and save the high labor cost, right? So what in Louise's cold heart let these workers continue on the payroll and do totally unrelated work that adds no profit to the corporate monsters?

It's simple folks. This company is looking out for the well being of its people and the long-term moral of its workforce. The company will profit from happy workers. The lies and propaganda from the union about how greedy Raytheon is just doesn't fit the picture. This company has gotten with the program long ago, and that's why it's one of the best places to work in the USA, period. (I can't wait to read the miscreant messages about this comment)

Help us remove this unfit labor representative at Raytheon. We will all be in a much happier workplace if we do.