A group of workers are stranded on a gantry in the dark. They have a choice: either inhale carbon monoxide from their helmets, or take them off and be exposed to high concentrations of toxic corrosion-inhibiting compounds.
For over a year, this scene has been replayed multiple times at Boeing’s plant in Everett, WA. Painters in one of its buildings have been dealing with an intermittent short in the spray booth, cutting power to both the lights and their forced-air breathing systems.
It’s just one of a slew of safety incidents reported to The Communist by RCA comrades working at the plant.
Instead of improving safety, Boeing is plowing ahead with a plan to speed up production of the infamous 737 Max from 38 to 47 planes per month. The rate hasn’t been this high since before the company’s cover-up of a fatal design flaw that killed 346 people in two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Breakdowns in workplace safety
Leaving aside revenue from the sale of Jeppesen, Boeing’s navigation software unit, the company has not posted an annual net profit since 2018, and they have a backlog of nearly 5,000 undelivered 737 MAXs.
The only way Boeing can hope to restore profitability is by squeezing workers and cutting production costs. But as the company speeds up production, workplace accidents are occurring at an appalling rate.
Boeing employees filed 25% more workers’ compensation claims this April than in the month before. Comrades report that just about every worker knows someone who has had their hand punctured by a screw gun, been sprayed with the corrosive and carcinogenic liquid Skydrol, gotten electrocuted from kneeling down on an extension cord with exposed wiring, or been subjected to some other breakdown in workplace safety.
One worker, a disabled veteran of US imperialism’s first invasion of Iraq in 1991, was electrocuted while removing a battery charger that had been installed incorrectly. Upon waking up the next morning, he found it difficult to speak, so he spent the whole day in the emergency room. It was his birthday.
Meanwhile, his supervisor blamed him for his injury, claiming it was a result of poorly managed diabetes. He’s afraid to return to work. Since the electrical mishap also damaged the aircraft he was working on, he’s sure the company will blame him for damage to the “product.”
In April, at the Wichita plant which manufactures 737 Max fuselages, mechanic Daniel Lussier fell through floor panels and hit the belly of the plane, shattering several ribs. He died three days later of a pulmonary embolism.
To protect American industry, the Biden administration agreed to forgive Boeing for covering up issues with the 737 Max that killed 347 people. / Image: SounderBruce, Wikipedia Commons
Dozens of former coworkers reached out to his grieving family, saying that they had suffered similar falls. Several had even reported safety concerns to management.
At Boeing’s plant in Kent, WA, a worker who inspects 737 engines tore his arm open in May. He lost his footing and hooked his bicep on a coupling bolt on the back of the engine. Pieces of his arm had to be cleaned off the engine while he rode in an ambulance to the ER.
Workers report a noticeable increase in the number of people out of the shop or on light duty assignments due to injuries—in some cases as many as 10%. Staff of an on-site medical clinic at the Everett plant are stretched thin, with some injured workers not being able to see a provider at all.
The Ford Pinto of airplanes
Boeing’s aircraft are no safer than its factories. Relentless pressure on workers to speed up production and cut corners on safety and quality-control inspections—with the full complicity of federal aviation authorities—has led to one catastrophe after another.
In 2024, 33,000 organized machinists brought production to a complete standstill, striking for higher pay. On the picket line, workers told RCA comrades about their safety concerns and explained that for every disaster that makes the headlines, there were many near-misses caused by the pace of work—even before the latest speed-up.
While company executives and Democratic politicians were preparing to address the press at a July 12 ribbon-cutting ceremony for Boeing’s new North Line production facility in Everett, passengers aboard a Boeing 737-800 taking off from Thessaloniki were literally clinging to life.
A fan blade broke loose from the right engine, knocking out a passenger window. The cabin depressurized. A 61-year-old Serbian man was sucked halfway out of the aircraft. Passengers struggled to pull him back inside, and his wife held onto his legs to keep him from being pulled back through the window as the plane descended.
This comes after the 2024 midair disaster over Portland, OR, in which a door plug panel blew out on a 737 Max jet.
To protect American industry, the Biden administration agreed to forgive Boeing for covering up issues with the 737 Max that killed 347 people. Boeing’s lawyer, Mark Filip, knew the government could be persuaded to cut a sweetheart deal—after all, he had been the top DOJ official to sign off on Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement for child sex trafficking in 2008.
Executives, investors, and capitalist politicians won’t blink at a high death toll in the factories and in the skies, as long as it means even higher profits. The battle for safe jobs and travel can only be won through class struggle.