Boeing union is calling for strike

Members will vote Wednesday on offer

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 30, 2008

Leaders of Boeing Co.'s Machinists union called for a strike yesterday after deciding that a proposed labor contract that the aerospace company called its "best and final" offer was not good enough. They urged members to reject the offer in a coming vote.

The company, based in Chicago, had hoped that the proposal, which provides more pay and incentives to workers over three years, would help it avert a labor standoff. The talks come as Boeing tries to keep up with a backlog of plane orders and avoid more penalties caused by production delays of its next-generation 787 passenger jet.

Tom Wroblewski, the district president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751, said that the company's offer fell short in terms of job security, wages and medical coverage, among other areas.

"We did not take lightly the fact we recommended a strike," he said at a news conference. "This is not just talking about 27,000 members. This is talking about 27,000 members and their families."

A Boeing spokesman said that the company was "extremely disappointed" by the union's response.

The sides have been negotiating over a new three-year contract since May 9 and round-the-clock talks began Aug. 21 at a Seattle airport. In 2005, about 18,400 machinists in the Pacific Northwest and Wichita, Kan., struck for four weeks, and the company had to stop commercial airplane production. The machinists assemble Boeing's commercial planes and some key components.

The proposal, Boeing's third offer, was delivered to the union Thursday. It would have increased pay by 11 percent on average for more than 27,000 union workers in Washington state, Kansas and Oregon, the company said.

The tentative deal also included a $2,500 bonus for workers if the agreement was ratified by Wednesday, when the current contract expires and a union vote is scheduled. Boeing said it had withdrawn certain contentious proposals, such as plans to cut early-retiree medical coverage and create a new defined-contribution retirement program for future employees.

The union held a preliminary vote to authorize a strike in July. On Wednesday, members are scheduled to cast two ballots: one to accept or reject Boeing's latest offer and another on whether to strike.