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Boeing strike emotions flare as security guard flashes gun in picket line altercation
An ongoing strike by 33,000 Boeing machinists took a potentially dangerous turn as a security guard displayed a gun following an altercation with workers walking a picket line on Monday outside the airplane manufacturer’s main hub in Seattle.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to “reports of a disturbance” at a Boeing parts distribution center at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport early Monday morning, a spokesperson for the King County Sheriff’s Office told CBS MoneyWatch, noting reports of protestors blocking access to the property.
A security guard flashed a gun as he was leaving the premises, although there was no indication he pointed it at anyone and he left without further incident, according to the sheriff’s department.
Boeing called the incident “unacceptable” and said that the contract security guard involved would not be returning to the company.
“We respect our employees’ right to picket peacefully and believe everyone should feel safe. We’re cooperating with the King County Sheriff’s Office as they investigate,” the aircraft manufacturer said in a statement.
The International Association Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM District 751, and the company that employed the guard, Allied Universal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tensions between Boeing and the striking assembly workers are running high. The aircraft maker said Monday it was freezing hiring due to the strike launched three days earlier, saying the walkout “jeopardizes” its business.
Workers voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal that would have increased wages 25% over four years, with the deal falling short of the union’s initial demand for a pay hike of 40% over three years. The union also sought to restore traditional pensions that were axed a decade ago, but settled for increased contributions by Boeing to employees’ 401(k) retirement plans.
The striking workers build the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling jetliner, along with the 777 commercial jet and 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. Boeing 787 Dreamliners are built by nonunion workers in South Carolina.
Boeing already faced financial setbacks and a battered reputation before the strike. It has lost more than $25 billion since the beginning of 2019 after a range of manufacturing issues and coming under investigation by federal regulators this year.
IAM District 751 said in a statement that its negotiating committee would enter mediation with Boeing on Tuesday. The union noted that the mediator would not have authority to compel either side to agree to specific terms, but is instead acting as a neutral party that tries to help the sides find common ground.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.