Over 27,000 machinists in Washington, Oregon and Kansas are completing the sixth week of their strike in which they have sought to halt the outsourcing of their jobs, prevent the imposition of higher costs for health care, and improve their pension fund and wages. This is the first back-to-back strike by machinists in Boeings history. The aircraft workers struck for 28 days in 2005.

The two sides announced the resumption of negotiations last Wednesday after an earlier informal meeting with federal mediators. Talks resumed Sunday, but the basis for this new round of negotiations was unclear. For its part, Boeing indicated no flexibility in its demands.

Boeings Vice President of Human Resources Doug Kight responded to the collapse of the talks: [W]e cannot sacrifice our ability to continuously improve productivity and our long-term competitiveness for an agreement. He cited the financial crisis as a major consideration. Given current economic conditions, it is now more important than ever that we retain the ability to respond to a dynamic, uncertain environment, he declared.

Beoing CEO James McNerney, in a recent letter issued to employees, insisted that any restriction on contract labor could lead the company to resemble Ford or GM. The auto giants, he declared, all but fatally wounded themselves years ago by promising unsustainable wage and benefit levels and by agreeing to contract conditions (including job guarantees) that limited their flexibility to run their businesses in the face of intense global competition. Today, their market shares continue to fall, and their layoffs have grown by the thousands.

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