Boeing machinists study contract details, mull strike
SEATAC - Members of Boeing's machinist's union got a closer look Saturday at the contract offer at the center of negotiations and a possible strike vote.
Union members have been walking in and out union headquarters, asking questions and looking for answers, about the proposed contract that the Boeing Co. calls its "best and final offer" and which the union calls a bad deal.
"You gotta know what you're voting on. If you don't know that, it's not going to do you any good," says Mike Ryan, a union member who has worked for Boeing for 25 years.
If union members vote to reject Boeing's offer and strike, it would be his fourth.
Union leaders are urging workers to turn down the proposal. They say it falls short in pay, pension and benefits. But the aerospace company says it is a good, solid proposal.
"This is the strongest offer in the aerospace industry. It includes pension increases, lump sum payments," says Boeing Co. spokesman Tim Healy.
Ryan says the offer's not bad for him - since he retires in six months. But he still won't vote for the contract.
"I think for people my age it's not a bad deal," he says. "But for the younger people - they're the ones that are going to be losing things."
It's that same concern for his younger co-workers that brought Rick White to union headquarters Saturday. He worries that new employees will be tempted by the 11 percent pay hike included in the offer.
But, then he says they'll be missing what he calls the bigger picture of poor pensions and increased costs of medical coverage.
"I don't know if they've just come to accept the fact that they don't have retirement," White says. "And if they don't read the contract they'll just keep taking away stuff until they don't have retirement, which is what they want they want - to take away their retirements."
Union members are scheduled to vote on the offer this Wednesday. If the offer is turned down, they'll have a second vote on whether to strike.
A simple majority is required to reject the contract, and a two-thirds majority is needed to call a strike, which would trigger a work stoppage at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
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 passenger jet.
Boeing spokesmen said the company was "extremely disappointed" by the union's response, but is standing by its offer.
Tom Wroblewski, district president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751, said the union was willing to continue bargaining and would welcome the involvement of a federal mediator.
"We are more than willing to talk to the union and discuss the contract with them in more detail - that said, this is truly our final offer," Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said late Friday in response to Wroblewski's comment.
The union held a preliminary vote to authorize a strike in July. The sides have been negotiating since May 9; round-the-clock talks began Aug. 21 at a hotel near a Seattle airport.
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.
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's main concerns include details on subcontracting, which union leaders say jeopardizes job security.
Machinists don't want to see jobs that union workers can do go to outside contractors, Wroblewski said.
Union leaders also said workers are paying too much in the medical plan.
Union members have been walking in and out union headquarters, asking questions and looking for answers, about the proposed contract that the Boeing Co. calls its "best and final offer" and which the union calls a bad deal.
"You gotta know what you're voting on. If you don't know that, it's not going to do you any good," says Mike Ryan, a union member who has worked for Boeing for 25 years.
If union members vote to reject Boeing's offer and strike, it would be his fourth.
Union leaders are urging workers to turn down the proposal. They say it falls short in pay, pension and benefits. But the aerospace company says it is a good, solid proposal.
"This is the strongest offer in the aerospace industry. It includes pension increases, lump sum payments," says Boeing Co. spokesman Tim Healy.
Ryan says the offer's not bad for him - since he retires in six months. But he still won't vote for the contract.
"I think for people my age it's not a bad deal," he says. "But for the younger people - they're the ones that are going to be losing things."
It's that same concern for his younger co-workers that brought Rick White to union headquarters Saturday. He worries that new employees will be tempted by the 11 percent pay hike included in the offer.
But, then he says they'll be missing what he calls the bigger picture of poor pensions and increased costs of medical coverage.
"I don't know if they've just come to accept the fact that they don't have retirement," White says. "And if they don't read the contract they'll just keep taking away stuff until they don't have retirement, which is what they want they want - to take away their retirements."
Union members are scheduled to vote on the offer this Wednesday. If the offer is turned down, they'll have a second vote on whether to strike.
A simple majority is required to reject the contract, and a two-thirds majority is needed to call a strike, which would trigger a work stoppage at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
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 passenger jet.
Boeing spokesmen said the company was "extremely disappointed" by the union's response, but is standing by its offer.
Tom Wroblewski, district president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751, said the union was willing to continue bargaining and would welcome the involvement of a federal mediator.
"We are more than willing to talk to the union and discuss the contract with them in more detail - that said, this is truly our final offer," Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said late Friday in response to Wroblewski's comment.
The union held a preliminary vote to authorize a strike in July. The sides have been negotiating since May 9; round-the-clock talks began Aug. 21 at a hotel near a Seattle airport.
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.
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's main concerns include details on subcontracting, which union leaders say jeopardizes job security.
Machinists don't want to see jobs that union workers can do go to outside contractors, Wroblewski said.
Union leaders also said workers are paying too much in the medical plan.