One thing that nobody seems to talk about but has huge implications...is that allot of the strikers are fairly new hires. Everyone thinks these people make a good wage, but the new hires really don't. It takes 5 and a half years working at Boeing to "max out"; which would be the "decent wage" most people think of when they think of these Boeing jobs. The majority of the people newly hired (lets say, within the last 2 years) make between $12 - $14 an hour. Many of these new hires have been applying and interviewing for other jobs, and plan on accepting them PERMANENTLY (as in, will be giving up on Boeing), and who could blame them. They pay better, ave comparable benefits, and the long term security is much better. The newer employees know Boeing is not the only gig in town. Although I myself am not an IAM represented employee, I worked with several. Already , I'm hearing of a bunch going to Puget Sound Energy, and the majority are looking; many of whom are starting to get calls for interviews.

What Boeing fails to recognize is how devastating this will be for them. These old school managers still operate under the assumption that no one ever quits Boeing. With lower starting wages and a higher cost of living, that is no longer true. Although they'll get their old timers back, people with less then 3 years seniority have nothing to loose; ultimately, they'll almost certainly be laid off at some point and most have long burned out on Boeing's brutal mandatory overtime requirements. It takes at least a year to even be competent and 5 to truly be good at what you do. If Boeing even looses just half of their new hires (and they are well on their way), they'll literally have to start hiring again all over, and the consequences will be devastating. The time it will take to hire more people and train them, not to mention the cost, and the delays this will cause, is enormous. If their customers aren't already mad enough, believe me, they will be.