Machinists

The strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers against Boeing - now in its 55th day - is a classic confrontation over the future of $20-an-hour manufacturing jobs in this country. Machinists' jobs were once the jewels of the American workforce, back in the days when most U.S. companies made things and sold the bulk of what they made at home. But as Boeing has gone global, it has increasingly off-loaded work to suppliers at home and abroad, decreasing U.S. employment from 160,000 in 1989 to 105,000 today.

The formal sale of the Daily News and Inquirer to new owners moved a step closer yesterday when another of the company's unions agreed to a new contract. The union representing pressmen agreed to ratify their contract by a vote of 48-28. "I'm proud of the members who stood up and accepted a contract that wasn't the best but gives them a chance to survive and gives the company an opportunity to grow," said Joe Inemer, president of the Teamsters local that represents them.

In an effort to end a long-running battle between Eastern Airlines and its machinists union, the nation's top mediator yesterday opened an intensive round of talks aimed at reaching a new contract after 14 months of failure to do so. Walter Wallace, chairman of the National Mediation Board, was acting as referee for the talks, which were expected to last for at least a week at an undisclosed location in Key Largo, Fla. Management negotiators were...

Stephen Raslavich, the federal bankruptcy judge trying to shepherd the Daily News and Inquirer to new ownership, met for three hours yesterday with lawyers, union representatives and business executives, but the parties emerged from the private discussions with little to say about the newspapers' immediate future. Today is the scheduled closing date for a deal that would turn over the papers and their Web site, Philly.com, to a new company called Philadelphia Media Network.

They called it the longest picket line in American history. Some might quibble about the accuracy of the claim, but the 11 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) who started off in Miami on Aug. 12 and journeyed to Boston, then back to New York for a Labor Day parade and on to Washington on Wednesday have certainly traveled a long way to rally support for their six-month-long strike against Eastern Airlines. The striking members of the machinists' union, who stopped in more than 60 cities on their 26-day trip, were joined along the way by striking Eastern airline pilots and flight attendants, and by labor movement supporters in the cities they traveled through, according to IAM's Eastern Airlines national strike coordinator Russ McGarry, one of the spokesmen for the group.

A federal judge yesterday upheld the award of 26 Philadelphia port jobs to machinists rather than longshoremen and barred longshoremen from immediately striking or picketing in retaliation. The decision strengthened the hand of Holt Cargo Systems, which operates the publicly owned Packer Avenue terminal, in its drive to hire labor at less expensive rates than those provided by the International Longshoremen's Association contract. The 26 jobs, which involve servicing refrigerated cargo containers, now are performed by ILA members.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge said yesterday that he would let US Airways Group Inc. throw out its contract with its mechanics and baggage handlers, improving its chances of surviving. Terminating the collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Machinists would result in pay cuts for union workers ranging from 6 percent to 35 percent and the loss of thousands of union jobs, much of it from outsourcing maintenance work on US Airways jets. The pay cuts, along with cost-cutting contracts the airline has with six other unions, are meant to reduce US Airways' labor costs by almost $1 billion a year.

Shortly before Boeing Co.'s largest union announced today that its 26,000 members had turned down their leaders' call to strike, members of a smaller union at the company's Ridley Township plant in Delaware County walked out. About 1,400 members of the Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) at the helicopter factory voted this week to strike unless the company improved its offer, but negotiations ground to a halt. The Ridley Township facility employs about 4,900 people, and is one of Delaware County's largest employers.

Like birds of prey circling a prize quarry, three of the nation's largest unions have positioned themselves to carry off the best catch in recent labor history. USAir's 8,300 fleet-service workers are one of the largest private-sector groups in the United States still there for the taking by organized labor, experts say. The Teamsters, United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists are going after the USAir workers with all the fervor they can muster at a time when union membership is falling rapidly.

The union representing US Airways mechanics and baggage handlers expressed doubt yesterday that the sides would agree on a new contract by this week's deadline and is weighing its options, including a walkout. "What is the incentive to come to work for $7 per hour?" said S.R. "Randy" Canale, president of District Lodge 141 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Four regional and national union leaders gathered in Philadelphia to discuss the negotiations, and to reject a suggestion that US Airways workers intended to damage the airline and hurt passengers by calling in sick over Christmas.

William D. Fairman, 77, of Prospect Park, a retired machinist and community volunteer, died of lung cancer Tuesday, Feb. 7, at home. For 44 years, Mr. Fairman worked for Boeing Co. in Ridley Park, where he helped develop helicopter rotor blades. After retiring in 1995, he made deliveries for area florists. He was working for Tunie's Floral Expressions in Folcroft when he became ill in November. Since 1960, he had been married to Wanda Eddy Fairman. They met at a church social in Prospect Park, where they later raised a family.

WASHINGTON - A contentious labor dispute between the government and Boeing Co. that spawned a national political fight likely will be settled after the company and the Machinists union announced Wednesday they had reached a tentative deal on a new four-year collective-bargaining agreement. If the deal is made final, it would appear to leave in place the work at a new $750 million Boeing plant in South Carolina, a right-to-work state where the company opened a new production line for its 787 airplane.

H. Carter Daywalt Sr., 68, a retired machinist and former volunteer firefighter, died of a heart attack Thursday, Aug. 4, at Montgomery Hospital in Norristown. Mr. Daywalt was a life member of Conshohocken Fire Company No. 2 and the George Clay Fire Company in West Conshohocken. In 1993, he was fighting a fire in an apartment house in Conshohocken. A hose broke loose, hit him, and knocked him under two parked fire trucks. He suffered severe facial cuts, a ruptured spleen, and brain damage.

Charles L. Hawley, 70, a retired machinist formerly of Pottstown, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Saturday, May 14, at home in Orlando. Mr. Hawley grew up in Kensington, the youngest of 13 children. He was a painter at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard before joining Rorer Pharmaceuticals in Fort Washington in 1971. He and his wife, Helen Bancos Hawley, raised a family in Abington and Pottstown. He was a former volunteer with the Upper Pottsgrove Township Fire Company.

J. Carl Rothman, 97, a retired machinist and a volunteer, died Thursday, May 12, at Martins Run Retirement Community, Broomall. Mr. Rothman grew up in Strawberry Mansion. He graduated from Simon Gratz High School and then worked for his father, Joseph, a watchmaker. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces in the Pacific as a mechanic. After his discharge, Mr. Rothman owned a jewelry store on Market Street in Center City. He was not an aggressive businessman, and would counsel couples to save their money and not spend too much on engagement rings, his son Ron said.

William Petrelli, 86, of Springfield, Delaware County, a retired machinist, died of apparent heart failure Saturday, Oct. 16, at home. Mr. Petrelli graduated from South Philadelphia High School. During World War II, he served in the Pacific and then in occupied Japan. He was recalled to active duty in the Korean War and was a 13-year veteran of the Navy Reserve. His ship assignments included minesweepers and the destroyer escort Koiner. After his active military duty, Mr. Petrelli worked for Westinghouse.

The machinist union with the Inquirer and Daily News voted Sunday morning to approve a contract with the prospective new owners of the local papers. The vote by the machinists, which was approved 28-4, means 15 of the 16 unions representing employees at the papers have reached contracts with Philadelphia Media Network Inc., a collection of 16 financial institutions that purchased parent company of the papers at at auction in April for $139 million. The remaining union without a contract, Teamster Local 628 which represents the newspapers' drivers, votes on a new contract Sunday afternoon.

The formal sale of the Daily News and Inquirer to new owners moved a step closer yesterday when another of the company's unions agreed to a new contract. The union representing pressmen agreed to ratify their contract by a vote of 48-28. "I'm proud of the members who stood up and accepted a contract that wasn't the best but gives them a chance to survive and gives the company an opportunity to grow," said Joe Inemer, president of the Teamsters local that represents them.

Harry P. Becky, 85, of Mickleton, a master tool and die maker and precision machinist who taught his trade at two area vocational schools, died of kidney failure on Thursday, Sept. 2, at his home. After studying engineering for three years at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Mr. Becky decided he would rather work at a machine shop. He became a certified master tool and die maker and precision machinist and started working at General Electric. He eventually ran other machine shops in the area.

Stephen Raslavich, the federal bankruptcy judge trying to shepherd the Daily News and Inquirer to new ownership, met for three hours yesterday with lawyers, union representatives and business executives, but the parties emerged from the private discussions with little to say about the newspapers' immediate future. Today is the scheduled closing date for a deal that would turn over the papers and their Web site, Philly.com, to a new company called Philadelphia Media Network.