The Pigs Get Fat, and the Hogs Get Slaughtered. -- Boeing Union Walks Out on Strike

Well, it happened. Boeing Co.'s machinists walked out on strike Saturday. Although the strike is expected to cost Boeing roughly $100 million a day in lost revenue, and put it under even more pressure in with its 787 Dreamliner which is already running nearly two years behind schedule, it may well prove far from painless for the machinists who expected the company to blink.

According to The Wall Street Journal:

The company's final contract proposal included a pay raise of 11% over the life of the contract, as well as a boosting of pensions by 14% to $80 a month for each year of service. Under the proposed contract, the average union member would earn roughly $65,000 a year before overtime that averages $10,000 a year or more.

The union said it wanted pay raises of at least 13% and a larger pension amount. It also wants Boeing to abandon plans to have workers take on a greater share of health-care costs.