Leaders of the machinists’ union at the Boeing Company agreed to return to the bargaining table early Thursday, just hours after the members of the union voted to reject the company’s last contract offer and strike the aircraft maker. þþThe decision temporarily spares Boeing from further delays in the development of an important new aircraft, the 787, known as the Dreamliner. However, it probably heightens pressure on Boeing to meet the union’s demand for a better offer on wages, pensions and job security.þþBoeing workers in Washington State, Oregon and Kansas voted 80 percent in favor of rejecting the company’s latest contract offer, while 87 percent voted in favor of a strike. The contract would have covered 27,000 workers. A two-thirds majority of those voting was needed for a walkout to take place. The strike would have begun at 3:01 a.m. Eastern time.þþMark Blondin, president of District 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said Boeing asked to continue talks after it heard the voting results. The aircraft maker had delivered what it called its “best and final offer” to the union last week, and recessed talks so that workers could consider it.þþWashington State’s governor, Chris Gregoire, urged the two sides to continue talks, Mr. Blondin said during a meeting shortly after midnight with Boeing workers in Seattle.þþHe said the union would give Boeing 48 hours to make a new proposal and come to an agreement. Otherwise, Mr. Blondin said, the union would walk off the job early Saturday. Boeing had no immediate comment.þþMr. Blondin’s announcement, broadcast live via the Internet, was greeted with loud jeers from Boeing workers, who waved picket signs and shouted, “Strike, strike, strike!” before he announced the vote results. “Your vote will count!” Mr. Blondin shouted over booing from the workers.þþThe dramatic development came after a last-minute campaign by Boeing to convince workers not to stage the walkout that their leaders had recommended.þþMachinists have followed the recommendations of union leaders in three of the last four contract talks. In the most recent negotiations, workers struck Boeing for a month in 2005. They did not agree to a walkout in 2002, however.þþOn Wednesday, union members held a boisterous march from Boeing’s plant in Everett, Wash., to a union hall where the voting took place. Some workers said they were prepared for a strike of several months. If a strike lasted more than two weeks, Boeing workers would draw $150 a week in strike pay.þþNegotiations between the company and the union were recessed last week, after Boeing delivered its proposal. They have been taking place in Seattle, the home base of Boeing Commercial Aircraft and much of Boeing’s production plants, as Boeing prepares for the first test flight later this year of the Dreamliner.þþThe plane, Boeing’s first new jet in more than a decade, is a long-range plane that is intended to be 20 percent more fuel efficient than previous Boeing jets. Introduced with fanfare in the middle of this decade, the Dreamliner is more than a year late.þþIts first test flight is scheduled late this year, and the first deliveries are set for the third quarter of 2009. Boeing has nearly 900 orders for the plane, whose main United States customer is Northwest Airlines.þþEvery additional day that the plane is pushed back will cost Boeing about $100 million, analysts said.þþTalks between Boeing and the machinists were marked by unusual candor and confrontation about offers and demands at the bargaining table. þþLast week, Boeing posted what it called its “best and final offer” on its Web site, and recessed talks to let workers consider the proposal over the Labor Day weekend.þþThe terms of the three-year contract include an 11 percent raise, up from an earlier offer of 9 percent, for the average machinist, who earns about $27 an hour, or $56,000 a year. þþBoeing also proposed an increase in pension financing, as well as a proposal for workers to take on more of their health care expenses. þþThe union, meanwhile, has pushed for a 13 percent raise and richer pensions, and is balking at higher medical expenses. The current contract was extended while talks continue.þþMr. Blondin and other union officials were critical of Boeing’s decision to appeal directly to workers to accept the contract offer, rather than continue negotiations until the deadline on Wednesday.þþ“This union was willing to talk right up to expiration,” Mr. Blondin said. “When you bargain, you keep it at the table.”þþ
Source: NY Times
