Oregon Public Broadcasting

For every day Boeing workers are on strike, the company is expected to lose a staggering $100 million.

And of course, individual workers don't get paid while they're on the picket line. Everyone is trying to figuring out how long they  can afford to stay on strike.

That's more than 1200 people in Gresham.

Kristian Foden-Vencil visited the plant in Gresham and talked with machinist Mike Dempsey about how he's planning to manage.

A few miles Northeast of Portland, on Sandy Boulevard, a dozen strikers carry banners and wave at passing drivers.

The workers have taken up a position on a grassy area  outside the factory. There are lawn chairs, a table with food, a few heaters, and a couple of buckets of sand for the cigarette butts and peanut shells.

Mike Dempsey wears a Hawaiian  shirt and big black bags under his eyes.

Mike Dempsey: "I've been here 30 years. A machinist the whole time. A team leader right now. What else do you want to know?"

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "Family?

Mike Dempsey: "Oh I've got the wife, a couple of grandkids, a son and daughter. They're all out of the house now. It's just the wife and I."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "So over the last couple of weeks, have you prepared at all. Saved some money?"

Mike Dempsey: "Oh, I'm good for a year. And if my year runs out. I'll just retire."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "What's the feeling on the line? Is it going to be a day, a week? Longer?"

Mike Dempsey: "It'll be longer than a week. Longer than a month. It's until they come around.       It's about every three years. We work as a team in here. That's what Boeing promotes the most -- teamwork.  About every three years they have a breakdown. They don't want to be a team no more. They don't want to be a family no more."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "If you were a betting man. How long would you put your money on?"

Mike Dempsey: "Probably about six weeks. The company's losing about $3 billion a month. So that's a lot of money for them to lose and we can go a long time."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "You're not going to stand here all that time are you, or are you going to have some fun?"

Mike Dempsey: "My wife and I are going out to Hawaii in about a week.  And I have 12 days before I have to come back on strike So I'll spend a week out there."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "Was that planned beforehand?"

Mike Dempsey:  " We planned it about four months ago because a lot of us saw this coming. We didn't think they'd negotiate in good faith and we were right."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "So you say there's a kind of three year process. Just run through that."

Mike Dempsey: "Three years ago, we were kind of forced to go on strike and we bought a bad contract that time. And three years before that they stuck it to us pretty good. It was just after 9/11. .They laid of half of our membership right off the bat. Within about six months, we lost that many people and they couldn't off load the work fast enough -- they (sent) it overseas. And the 787 came out, they off-loaded 85 percent of that around the world and that's why they have a problem with it now."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "Are you worried at all that this will give  Airbus and that great big plane with two floors."

Mike Dempsey: "No, that's not my job to worry. That's Mr. McNerney's job. That's why he's paid millions of dollars a year to worry about that. He needs to get us back to work, because those planes aren't getting made without us."

Kristian Foden-Vencil: "The average pay is $56,000 a year. Some people might think that's a pretty good chunk of change. What would you say to that?"

Mike Dempsey: " I don't think the average is that high, as what the company is telling you. I think it's a lot less than that. We have about 5,000 people on our membership making less than $30,000 a year."

As for Boeing,  spokesman Tim Healy, says the company worked hard to come to a good-faith agreement and was very disappointed workers didn't take the offer. He says it was  generous and called it the best in the industry.

It included an 11 percent raise over three years, a 14 percent gain in pension payments and bonuses of up to $6,000 per machinist.

The company is in a tight spot right now because it had planned to test the new Dreamliner in November and to start shipments by the middle of next year.

Healy says the company had  hoped to reach an agreement but differences ended up being too great.
Both sides say they're willing to negotiate, but no new talks have been scheduled.