SEATTLE (AP) -- Negotiators for the Boeing Co. and the Machinists union face less than six days to tackle the biggest issues in contract negotiations: pensions and job security.þþThe task is getting stickier as the Aug. 27 deadline for Boeing to present a ``best and final'' offer approaches. Talks are souring as the union on Wednesday denounced pension and workplace proposals from Chicago-based Boeing, contending the world's biggest aerospace company is trying to provoke a strike by the union's 25,000 members.þþThe union already complained about what it said was a change in tone at the start of intense negotiations Aug. 15. A federal mediator has begun assisting the talks.þþ``Boeing is proposing takeaways in every important area of the contract, job security, pensions and health care,'' said Dick Schneider, the union's chief negotiator. ``These proposals are certain to anger our members and trigger a strike, and Boeing knows it.''þþBut Boeing spokesman Chuck Cadena called the accusations ``absurd.''þþ``We do not want a strike, strikes hurt everyone,'' he said. ``Our approach is going to remain the same, to be professional, cooperative and be focused on finding solutions and agreement.''þþBoeing is willing to do everything ``reasonably possible to reach an agreement,'' he added.þþThe Machinists represent Boeing production workers in Washington state, Wichita, Kan., and Portland, Ore., primarily in the company's commercial jet factories. Other unions represent workers at major Boeing production centers in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Southern California, and the company's engineering and technical employees.þþThe average Machinist earns $50,000 a year.þþMachinists are to vote Aug. 29 on Boeing's offer to replace the three-year contract that expires at midnight Sept. 1. Two of the last four contract negotiations ended in strikes, most recently, a 69-day strike in 1995.þþPensions and job security are the union's two biggest issues. The union wants to increase Boeing's monthly pension contributions from $50 per year of employment to $120 per year of employment, a proposal Cadena called ``unrealistic.''þþSince the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Boeing has slashed airplane production in half and laid off nearly 30,000 workers, mostly in Washington state. But even before that, the company had whittled down its local work force and contracted with outside and overseas suppliers, a move that sparked grievances by the union.þþ``They're pushing every button you would push to seek a fight,'' said Machinists spokesman Matt Bates.þþ
Source: NY Times
