SEATTLE, WA, December 13— "They're going to make us vote and vote and vote!" complained a Boeing machinist. The Democratic Governor, the bosses' media, the company and the International Association of Machinists national headquarters are ganging up on us. They are using voting as a club to beat us into submission. "They figure we'll get worn out, say 'whatever' and move on," agreed a new hire. Or we can beat the bosses by expanding the fight for communism.
The local union mis-leaders are afraid to bring this latest contract extension to a vote. District president Wroblewski is even afraid to come to union meetings. Workers are still fighting mad from the last time he brought this idea up for a vote.
This latest offer is essentially the same as the one rejected 2-to-1 a month ago, except for a few tiny changes. The company and their allies — from the national government to the national union —demand we sacrifice a generation of our fellow workers for production of the new 777X jet.
"I thought this was the kind of stuff the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) said the company couldn't do. You know: vote for this or you're out," said another. The NLRB is the federal government agency in charge of overseeing U.S. labor law.
"…And what part of capitalism don't you understand?" joked those gathered around, having no confidence the bosses' laws would ever protect workers.

Why Now?
"Has anything like this ever happened before?" asked a recent hire at another of our shop-floor group discussions. "Things change by the hour. The international is openly working against us. Who knows what the local leadership is doing."
"No," a veteran machinist answered quickly. The worldwide capitalist crisis of overproduction reveals the naked truth about capitalism. It also shows how inadequate trade unionism is in the face of the resulting capitalist onslaught.
At the beginning of the week, Boeing bragged it got a big Canadian order for 737MAX planes worth $6.5 billion at list prices. They only charged the airline $3.2 billion to beat out Airbus or any of the other manufacturers that were coming on line. That's more than a 50 percent discount. The company plans on cutting our wages and benefits at least that much.
"It was inevitable we got to this state as long as production was organized for sale and profit," said the veteran. "We need communist production for the needs of our class if we are ever to get out of this mess.
"That means revolution that changes the fundamental basis of society."
"I'm ready to tell the company this," responded the new hire, giving the finger. "Let's just go out on strike now!"
A political strike against the system that forces us to vote on our own destruction would certainly help change the dynamic.

Mobilizing the Masses for Communism Trumps Voting
Mandela was buried this same week. We discussed his legacy in the midst of our own struggle. Mandela and his African National Congress came to power promising "one man, one vote." Capitalism still reigned and the conditions of black workers got worse and worse. Rebellion took hold last fall and hasn't stopped. A Boeing worker who had been in the antiracist, anti-apartheid movement most of his life commented that he doesn't vote for any politicians any more. He's shed the illusion that the bosses will let us vote them out of power. He took the lesson of this contract battle farther than merely the battle between the company and us. The only way forward is to mobilize the working class for communism: building the International Communist Workers' Party (ICWP).
Ones and twos are joining our party, and in some places groups. Advancing these groups through practice in class struggle will expose the bosses' weapons (like unending votes). Writing articles about the communist lessons of those struggles will help distribution of Red Flag and give new comrades confidence to win others. Many have voted "no" to the company's attempts at extortion, but this won't stop the bosses' attacks. Boeing workers need to join with these groups of workers, becoming ICWP members. Communism will succeed by the active effort of mobilized masses, not ceaseless votes.