Feds Step In To Stop Boeing Strike
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Feds Step In To Stop Boeing Strike
SEATTLE - Machinists at Boeing were voting Thursday on the aerospace giant's contract proposal, but the government ordered the ballots sealed and current contract extended for 30 days while the parties resume negotiations.
Both sides have been ordered to report to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., next Wednesday, said union spokesman Matt Bates.
"An important point for the Boeing membership is they still need to come out, they still need to vote today," Bates said.
"We still have that hope that if we continue talking to this company, they'll come to their senses and put an offer on the table that meets everybody's interests, not just their own," Bates said.
AP/Ron Wurzer
Boeing Machinists employee Howard Churchill, center, gives a thumbs down to the company's contract offer at a Machinists union rally Sunday.
Bates noted that the union had asked Boeing earlier this week to extend the existing contract day-by-day as talks continued. The company refused, saying negotiations had been under way for months.
The contract expires at midnight Sunday.
Boeing officials did not immediately return a call for comment
on the development, nor did mediation-agency negotiator who has been working on this labor dispute.
Despite the region's sagging economy and the conventional wisdom that the union has little leverage, 17-year Boeing carpenter Gary Hagen said he was voting against Boeing's "best and final" contract offer, which was made Tuesday.
"As a seasoned Boeing worker, I'm ready," said the Machinists union member who has been through two previous strikes and has been saving a strike fund for a year. "It could be a long one."
Gov. Gary Locke met individually Wednesday with the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and the local Machinists union leader in an effort to avert a strike.
Boeing's offer wrapped up two weeks of intensive negotiations for a contract to cover 25,000 Machinists in Washington state, Wichita and Portland, Ore.
Machinists had been seeking to more than double pensions and to
secure job guarantees linked to aircraft deliveries, revenues or
other business benchmarks. Boeing's final offer would have raised
pensions by 20 percent by the third year of the contract and
included no substantial changes to its job security contract
language, inciting union leaders whose membership has been slashed
by 25 percent since Sept 11.
The contract also calls for changes in employee health care costs, including increases in monthly premiums depending on which plans employees choose.
In addition, Boeing offered an 8 percent ratification bonus for accepting the contract, and raises of 2 percent and 2.5 percent in the second and third years of the contract.
Mark Blondin, president of Machinists District Local 751, which represents Puget Sound workers, expressed union concerns about job security and Boeing's long-term commitment to Washington when he spoke to Locke. The governor addressed those issues and Boeing's concerns in a separate meeting with Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"Alan Mulally assured me that Boeing is committed to building commercial aircraft in Washington state for years to come," Locke said in a statement. "Those are welcome words to the many families and businesses that depend on Boeing."
Boeing moved its corporate headquarters last year from Seattle to Chicago.
Even without evaluating the merits of the union's proposals, Machinists don't have the upper hand in today's economy, said Richard Aboulafia, aviation director at Teal Group.
"It's almost an extraordinary miscalculation," he said. "By sheer market power ... they could not have picked a less advantageous time to strike."
With hundreds of 737s and other airplanes parked in the desert due to the drop-off in air travel demand, there's no shortage of planes for those airlines who actually want them, he said.
In the last contract talks, "Boeing was on the wrong side of the market," Aboulafia said. "That is the exact opposite of this time."
But the union needs to consider more than just who has leverage, Blondin said.
"You've got to stand up for what's right," he said at a Tuesday news conference denouncing the contract. "Jobs belong to this community. We're going to stand up for this community."
Both sides have been ordered to report to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., next Wednesday, said union spokesman Matt Bates.
"An important point for the Boeing membership is they still need to come out, they still need to vote today," Bates said.
"We still have that hope that if we continue talking to this company, they'll come to their senses and put an offer on the table that meets everybody's interests, not just their own," Bates said.
AP/Ron Wurzer
Boeing Machinists employee Howard Churchill, center, gives a thumbs down to the company's contract offer at a Machinists union rally Sunday.
Bates noted that the union had asked Boeing earlier this week to extend the existing contract day-by-day as talks continued. The company refused, saying negotiations had been under way for months.
The contract expires at midnight Sunday.
Boeing officials did not immediately return a call for comment
on the development, nor did mediation-agency negotiator who has been working on this labor dispute.
Despite the region's sagging economy and the conventional wisdom that the union has little leverage, 17-year Boeing carpenter Gary Hagen said he was voting against Boeing's "best and final" contract offer, which was made Tuesday.
"As a seasoned Boeing worker, I'm ready," said the Machinists union member who has been through two previous strikes and has been saving a strike fund for a year. "It could be a long one."
Gov. Gary Locke met individually Wednesday with the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and the local Machinists union leader in an effort to avert a strike.
Boeing's offer wrapped up two weeks of intensive negotiations for a contract to cover 25,000 Machinists in Washington state, Wichita and Portland, Ore.
Machinists had been seeking to more than double pensions and to
secure job guarantees linked to aircraft deliveries, revenues or
other business benchmarks. Boeing's final offer would have raised
pensions by 20 percent by the third year of the contract and
included no substantial changes to its job security contract
language, inciting union leaders whose membership has been slashed
by 25 percent since Sept 11.
The contract also calls for changes in employee health care costs, including increases in monthly premiums depending on which plans employees choose.
In addition, Boeing offered an 8 percent ratification bonus for accepting the contract, and raises of 2 percent and 2.5 percent in the second and third years of the contract.
Mark Blondin, president of Machinists District Local 751, which represents Puget Sound workers, expressed union concerns about job security and Boeing's long-term commitment to Washington when he spoke to Locke. The governor addressed those issues and Boeing's concerns in a separate meeting with Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
"Alan Mulally assured me that Boeing is committed to building commercial aircraft in Washington state for years to come," Locke said in a statement. "Those are welcome words to the many families and businesses that depend on Boeing."
Boeing moved its corporate headquarters last year from Seattle to Chicago.
Even without evaluating the merits of the union's proposals, Machinists don't have the upper hand in today's economy, said Richard Aboulafia, aviation director at Teal Group.
"It's almost an extraordinary miscalculation," he said. "By sheer market power ... they could not have picked a less advantageous time to strike."
With hundreds of 737s and other airplanes parked in the desert due to the drop-off in air travel demand, there's no shortage of planes for those airlines who actually want them, he said.
In the last contract talks, "Boeing was on the wrong side of the market," Aboulafia said. "That is the exact opposite of this time."
But the union needs to consider more than just who has leverage, Blondin said.
"You've got to stand up for what's right," he said at a Tuesday news conference denouncing the contract. "Jobs belong to this community. We're going to stand up for this community."
