Victory to Long Beach Boeing Strike!

LOS ANGELES—On May 11, 1,700 Boeing production workers organized in UAW Local 148 went on strike at the company’s Long Beach, California, assembly plant, stopping production of the massive C-17 military transport aircraft that have been a workhorse of U.S. imperialism’s occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti. The strikers, most of whom have worked at the plant for decades and are close to retirement, overwhelmingly rejected the company’s proposal to make the workers pay more for their pensions and medical benefits. The multiracial workforce also faces layoffs as Boeing cuts production, with Congress planning to stop purchases of the C-17 by 2013.

L.A. Spartacist League comrades have shown support for the strike on the picket lines and at a May 14 rally, which was attended by Local 148 members and other unionists. The comrades report that workers are plenty angry at the company for threatening to throw them on the scrap heap after years of toiling for the aerospace giant. Strikers have acted to stop scabs, but many are still crossing the picket lines. Teamsters trash haulers and UPS truck drivers have pledged to honor the picket lines. It is the duty of all area unions to back Local 148 as it fights this important labor battle.