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Boeing Machinists approved a four-year contract extension Wednesday, an agreement that guarantees aerial refueling work will be done in Wichita – as long as Boeing keeps the facility open.
Machinists in Washington and Oregon also approved the contract.
“If they decide to close, it doesn’t matter if this (the guarantee) is in here,” Steve Rooney, directing business representative of the Machinists District 70 in Wichita, said of the contract he held in his hand. The contract also guarantees that should Boeing close the Wichita site, the tanker work would be performed in the Puget Sound area.
The Machinists represent 28,000 workers in Washington, Oregon and Kansas, including 400 workers in Wichita.
Last month, Boeing said it was studying the future of Wichita operations, including whether to close the site, which employs 2,100.
Union officials announced Wednesday night that 74 percent of voting members approved the deal. The agreement calls for annual wage increases of 2 percent, cost-of-living adjustments, an incentive program intended to pay bonuses from 2 percent to 4 percent, a $5,000 ratification bonus for each member and improvements in the pension program. Health care costs will increase somewhat and the rate of general wage increases is lower than in previous agreements, Rooney said.
Overall, however, “We believe it’s going to help … everybody,” hesaid.
The contract extension in a deal that grants the company a long stretch of elusive labor peace and likely ends a federal complaint that had become a hot topic for Republican presidential candidates.
Dozens of union members in Seatlle erupted in applause and cheers Wednesday night as Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists District Lodge 751, announced the vote.
Boeing promised that if workers approved the pact, the company would build the new version of the popular 737 in the Puget Sound region, while the Machinists said they’d drop their allegations that Boeing opened a nonunion assembly plant in South Carolina in retaliation for previous strike.
“This contract signifies jobs throughout the Northwest, throughout the region,” said the union’s aerospace coordinator, Mark Blondin. “The message of this contract is … Boeing is acknowledging we have the deepest pool of skilled aerospace workers in the country.”
Machinists went on strike in 2005 and 2008. The latter strike helped delay delivery of Boeing’s first 787, costing the company dearly.
“This contract will help secure a better future for our employees, our customers, our communities and our company,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “It reflects an effort on the part of the company and the union to find a better way to work together and achieve common ground.”
Rooney said he will take part in Boeing’s study on the Wichita plant. A meeting with Boeing corporate officials will be set this week, he said.
Rooney said he intends to stress the advantages of the Wichita facility, including a skilled workforce.
“This is a facility I think we all want to see stay open,” Rooney said.
Contributing: Associated Press
