BOEING MACHINISTS SAY YES TO OFFER 777X work secured for Puget Sound

Sat, January 04, 2014

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BOEING MACHINISTS SAY(SEATTLE, WA) -- The cities around the nation that had gleefully dropped their knickers to give Boeing just about everything and anything it wanted to get that 777X construction work came up snake eyes Friday night. YES TO OFFER777X work secured for Puget Sound January 04, 2014

Boeing 777X jetliner.

Former NBA coach Dick Motta told the world back in the 70's,'The opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings' and he was right as rain.Evidently figuring that a cash-rich pig in a poke was ultimately preferable to a poke in the eye, members of Local 751 of the International Machinists Union (IAM) voted Friday by a razor-thin margin - 51% yes votes to 49% no - to approve a Boeing-offered contract that guarantees for years that assembly work on the company's new 777X jetliner will be done here in Puget Sound.'Our members have spoken and this is the course we'll take,' said Tom Wroblewski, the president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 in a statement after the votes were counted.The local represents more than 30,000 hourly workers at Boeing plants in Puget Sound. 'The decision means Boeing will stop seeking alternate sites for its 777X aircraft program, the latest version of its best-selling widebody jet, and start preparations to start final assembly and wing fabrication in Puget Sound,' added Wroblewski who also said the union's goal in coming years will be to fight to ensure Boeing lives up to its commitment to its workforce and keeps jobs in Washington state.'Thanks to this vote by our employees, the future of Boeing in the Puget Sound region has never looked brighter,' Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said in a statement. 'We're proud to say that together, we'll build the world's next great airplane-the 777X and its new wing - right here.' The vote by members to accept this offer came about even though Wroblewski and the District 751 leadership team had unanimously recommended that union members reject it because it included what they called steep concessions on retirement and health care benefits and limits on future wage growth.'All along we knew that our members wanted to build the 777X, and that it was in Boeing's best interest to have them do it,' Wroblewski said. 'We recommended that our members reject the offer because we felt that the cost was too high, in terms of our lost pensions and the thousands of dollars in additional health care costs we'll have to pay each year.'Now, it's up to all of us now to pull together to make this airplane program successful. I'm confident we will do that, because as we've said all along, this is the most-skilled aerospace workforce in the world.' 'The impact of this agreement extends far beyond IAM members who voted today,' said IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger. 'For decades to come, the entire region will benefit from the economic activity and technological innovations that will accompany the production of the 777X and 737 MAX.'In addition to securing manufacture of the 777X fuselage and carbon-fiber wings for the Puget Sound, the agreement reaffirms Boeing's commitment to maintain 737 MAX production in Renton, Washington through 2024. Buffenbarger says analysts estimate the two programs could account for as many as 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in the area and billions of dollars in economic activity.'The 777X is not just Boeing's newest wide-body aircraft,' said Buffenbarger. 'In materials, technology and manufacturing skills required, the 777X represents a quantum leap in aviation history. IAM members have built Boeing aircraft in Puget Sound for more than 60 years. This agreement assures they'll continue building them for decades to come.'The IAM says the contract that members ratified also includes changes to IAM members' defined benefit pension plan.While the plan will continue to pay full benefits to all members vested in the plan, Boeing will cease making contributions and members will instead be covered by a company-funded 401(k) plan and a separate savings plan that includes matching company contributions. BACK TO HOME

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