Boeing, Machinists negotiators face contract deadline

Boeing, Machinists negotiators face contract deadline

Boeing employees work on the 777 airplane assembly line in this Jan. 31, 2007 file photo in Everett, Wash.

Tools

Story Published: Aug 21, 2008 at 8:51 AM PDT

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 12:59 AM PDT

By Associated Press

Watch the story
SEATAC, Wash. -- Representatives from Boeing Co. and the Machinists union expect to sit down Thursday at the SeaTac Doubletree hotel for what they call around-the-clock bargaining.

The two sides have been exchanging proposals for months on a new three-year contract. Now they are negotiating under deadline pressure.

Union members say they believe they are in a strong position because Boeing is doing so well financially. But Boeing officials say they can't give so much away that they can't sustain their success.

Still, Boeing says they understand why the machinists are demanding their share.

"We have had success, in the last three years we've had sales of 1,000 airplanes a year and employees deserve to share in that success, they have a earned it, we're going to do it," said Boeing spokesman Tim Healy.

But the union isn't so sure. The union says during the last two negotiations, they lost ground because the aerospace industry was in bad shape.

"The company keeps saying they want to share the success that came from the hard work of our machinists," union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher said in a statement. "But so far they haven't brought anything to the table. We hoped there'd be more progress by now."

The union is worried about losing pension benefits for the new hires and getting enough in pay raises. The company says they have offered a new incentive plan that could mean as much as $4,000 a year for machinists.

The union's District Lodge 751 represents about 25,000 Boeing employees in the Seattle area, around 1,800 in Wichita and 800 in Portland.

Boeing said it will present its final offer to the union by a week from Friday. Machinists would vote Sept. 3 as the old contract expires. If the union rejects the final offer, machinists say they'll be ready to strike.

The average Boeing machinist earns $27 an hour or about $56,000 a year.

Weather & Traffic

Icon
Current Temp 63.0 °F
Mostly Cloudy
More Weather

On Demand

Resources and info you need to prepare for the switch to DTV.

Stay Connected

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Marketplace