Using members due to pay fines is no way for any unions to spend them, however, this is a clear illustration of the fact the courts that hear labor proceedings do not discriminate or favor unions. They render justice according to the law no different than any other court.
Prestwick
Oklahoma
North Carolina
Malaysia
Saint-Nazaire - France
Hawaii judge fines sheet metal workers union over deposition (click title to entry - thank you)
HONOLULU (Legal Newsline) - A Hawaii federal judge has fined a sheet metal workers union, its principal officer and its attorney for violating the Court's earlier orders.
Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway previously had ordered the union's records custodian to appear for a deposition and produce documents in connection with a National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) investigation of the Union's hiring hall.
Mollway found that the conduct of Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 293, at the deposition was "tantamount to a failure to appear at the deposition or failure to answer questions."
She also found that the union's attorney "acted with knowledge and with more than recklessness in flouting the court's Oct. 3 order and in inducing Sheet Metal Workers to flout the order" and expressly found both the attorney and the union's custodian of records to have acted in bad faith.
According to the NLRB announcement, the court ordered a fine of $250 per day from October 18, 2011 and continuing until compliance; attorneys' fees and court reporter costs incurred by the NLRB due to the union's non-compliance, to be paid by the union's custodian of records and its attorney, personally; as well $2,500 against each personally....
Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway previously had ordered the union's records custodian to appear for a deposition and produce documents in connection with a National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) investigation of the Union's hiring hall.
Mollway found that the conduct of Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Local 293, at the deposition was "tantamount to a failure to appear at the deposition or failure to answer questions."
She also found that the union's attorney "acted with knowledge and with more than recklessness in flouting the court's Oct. 3 order and in inducing Sheet Metal Workers to flout the order" and expressly found both the attorney and the union's custodian of records to have acted in bad faith.
According to the NLRB announcement, the court ordered a fine of $250 per day from October 18, 2011 and continuing until compliance; attorneys' fees and court reporter costs incurred by the NLRB due to the union's non-compliance, to be paid by the union's custodian of records and its attorney, personally; as well $2,500 against each personally....
In anticipation of military cut backs, Boeing is moving the serving of Air Force One from Witchita, Kansas to Texas. But, the news of how the unions are working to protect their members doesn't stop there. The military cutbacks are necessary. Protectionist legislation for Republicans to guard their 'job rating' is not a national security issue. The national security issue of the USA is over reaching its authority.
Air Force One maintenance moving to San Antonio (click here)
By William Pack, wpack@express-news.net
Updated 01:32 p.m., Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Boeing Co. will move aircraft workers and maintenance of Air Force One to San Antonio as part of a realignment brought about by the closure of its plant in Wichita, Kan.
Mark Bass, vice president of maintenance, modifications and upgrades for the Boeing unit that operates the Wichita plant, said the realignment would move 300-400 jobs to San Antonio and about 800 jobs to Oklahoma City, where Boeing is moving engineering work from Wichita.
The aerospace giant announced the closure Wednesday, ending weeks of speculation about the future of a Kansas facility that currently employs more than 2,160 people.
Boeing said in a news release that layoffs at the plant would begin early in the third quarter of this year and the facility would close by the end of 2013. San Antonio will get the future aircraft maintenance, modification and support work that had been performed in Wichita....
I am not quite sure what is behind all this mess, including the South Carolina plant, except Boeings CEO is trying to get rid of unions. I thought the Dreamliner was a success for Boeing. Some of this doesn't make sense to me.
Boeingto Close Kansas Plant Employing 2,160 as U.S. Curbs Arms Spending (click here)
By Susanna Ray and Roxana Tiron - Jan 4, 2012 12:05 PM ET
...In a contract signed last month with the Machinists union district in the Puget Sound area of Washington state, Boeing agreed to move the tanker modification work to Everett if it were to shut down Wichita.
Boeing has outsourced more work in recent years and sold its commercial operations in Wichita in 2005, when Sprint AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (SPR) was formed to build fuselages for the 737 single-aisle jet.
That company now also supplies parts to most other planemakers around the world and, at Boeing’s behest, is boosting production of 737 bodies by about a third through 2014 to accommodate demand for the world’s most widely flown jet.
Boeing said today it anticipates “even more work” for suppliers in Kansas, the fourth-largest state in the planemaker’s supplier network....
Sprint Aerosystems are based in the USA, but, they have two overseas plants as well.
Whether you’re a customer, (click here) supplier, current or potential employee, or a community member, Spirit AeroSystems has something to offer you. We are the world's largest supplier of commercial airplane assemblies and components. We offer a diverse line of products and services for aerospace design, build, support and spares/repair needs. With manufacturing and business office facilities on three continents, our capabilities are technologically world-class in both proficiency and capacity....
Locations: I betcha this company is new throughout. Let me see.
The Witchita plant is its first location and it has protected itself by expanding into Europe and now Asia. The company is seeking marketability in all manufacturing markets where there is competition. In other words, if Boeing were their only customer their viability as a company would be directly linked to the viability of Boeing. Hm. Not bad management to keep a company viable, but, with so many 'ventures' one has to begin to see the danger to USA jobs as well.
Wichita
The Wichita location, (click here) with its beginnings as the headquarters of Stearman Aircraft and later Boeing Military Airplanes and Boeing Commercial Airplane Group-Wichita Division, builds fuselage sections for all current Boeing programs -- 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787. Wichita is also the home of nacelle production for 737, 747, 767 and 777 airplanes, and strut/pylon production for 737, 747, 767 and 777 as well as the Bombardier CSeries and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet.
The Prestwick plant is in the UK servicing Airbus. Airbus must demand locations of a company in the EU in order to participate.
Prestwick
Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) Limited (click here) is the largest airframe supplier to Airbus and a key supplier of major wing structures with “life of program” contracts. Our Prestwick operation delivers products across the entire Airbus range, including the new A380 aircraft.
Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) Limited is based at sites at Prestwick in Ayrshire and Preston, Lancashire. The Prestwick site is home to around 900 employees and is one of the larger employers in the local area. An additional70 staff are based at Preston in Lancashire. Its aviation history in the United Kingdom dates back to the early days of large scale airplane production in Scotland in the 1930s.
Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) Limited is based at sites at Prestwick in Ayrshire and Preston, Lancashire. The Prestwick site is home to around 900 employees and is one of the larger employers in the local area. An additional70 staff are based at Preston in Lancashire. Its aviation history in the United Kingdom dates back to the early days of large scale airplane production in Scotland in the 1930s.
The Oklahoma plant seems to be one of the original facilities that service Boeing products.
Oklahoma
The manufacturing facility in McAlester, Okla., (click here) supports both the Wichita and Tulsa sites with machined parts and subassemblies. The Tulsa and McAlester sites provide world-class structures and service for customers across the globe.
North Carolina
Opened July 1, 2010 (click here)
Spirit AeroSystems formally opened its new 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kinston, N.C., on July 1, 2010.
Spirit AeroSystems formally opened its new 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kinston, N.C., on July 1, 2010.
The Malaysia plant is just about as new as the France plant. Kuala Lumpar is a financial hub no different than New York. It is also a foothold in Asia. China. Need I say more?
Malaysia
Spirit AeroSystems Malaysia Sdn Bhd (click here) is based on a 75-acre site adjacent to the runway at Subang Airport near Kuala Lumpur. The 242,000-square-foot facility was announced in 2007 and became operational early in 2009.
The plant in France makes sense because Airbus is a German company. I am quite sure the company has to have a presence in the EU to qualify for participation. The France plant has a direct relationship with the North Carolina facility and enhances job stability. I sincerely doubt the NC Plant is unionized.
Saint-Nazaire - France
Spirit is building the plant in Saint-Nazaire (click here) to receive center fuselage frame sections for the Airbus A350XWB (Xtra Wide-Body) commercial aircraft from its facility in Kinston, N.C., USA. Sections designed and manufactured in North Carolina will be shipped across the Atlantic, received in Saint-Nazaire, and assembled before being transported to Airbus as “Section 15.”
If this is accurate, the holdings on Wall Street only go back to 2007. The company, if it is as new as it appears, has increased its business model very, very quickly. I never thought the business was that lucrative. Privatization only started under President Obama of the aerospace programs. I doubt that would have impacted this expansion.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (Holdings) is an independent non-OEM (original equipment manufacturer) aircraft parts designers and manufacturers of commercial aerostructures to Boeing. In addition, Holdings is a supplier of aerostructures to Airbus....
A couple of things are going on here. This company literally supplies parts to Airline companies by under cutting the prices the ORIGINAL manufacturers would charge. They get the specs from who knows where and seek to produce the products to fit the requirement outside of that of the companies that manufactured the original aircraft. I sincerely wonder the wisdom of that, but, at any rate, this industry undercuts Boeing and Airbus when it comes to supplying replacement parts. I can't help but wonder their liability in the Air France disaster a couple of years ago, when sensors were found to be malfunctioning and the airline was found negligent. That is pure speculation.
The other thing is that Boeing and Airbus could have sold out their 'parts' manufacturing to this company because it was not lucrative enough. I find that hard to believe. If a company founded in 2007 as this one appears at first glance can produce parts for air plane companies and expand at the rate it has in four years, they are making plenty of money or there are investors seeking to undo Boeing and Airbus.
This is really lousy. Really lousy. This company may be the one putting pressure on Boeing to move its manufacturing facility to South Carolina to cut labor costs. AGAIN, the wisdom of that is highly speculative in producing an excellent vehicle.
I can't say enough how the people of the USA have to build sold, unshakable local economies that can sustain losses such as this. Wall Street has become draconian. I'll explain.
There was a time in the USA when Wall Street CEO's had loyalities to their 'facilities' and the countries they found themselves employing people. That was the case for a lot of reasons. It insured their workforce, the education of that workforce and a 'long window' of profits, not short term upticks that provide bonuses every six months to a year.
But, besides that the 'computer age' we find ourselves and the large amounts of money Wall Street now enjoys in their coffers, drastic changes in location can impact a country in a heartbeat. That in any form is not a stable economy, it also provides for a very volatile stock market. That dynamic in a stock market CREATES 'bubbles' and it creates opportunity to 'ride the bubble' until it closes.
If this is at it appears on a short analysis, this creates volatility and not security for any company. A company like this can undercut major manufacturers that supply dynamics to national security and a national economy as well. This is just bad business and I am very concerned. The people of the USA have to continue to localize their economies on all venues if this is the outcome to the liquidity Wall Street now enjoys.
