Boeing Machinists' vote comes amid talks

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Machinists at The Boeing Co. will cast ballots today at Safeco Field about whether to authorize a strike should negotiations with the company fail.

The largely procedural vote is occurring as the union continues labor talks, which started June 10, with Boeing over a new three-year contract and as the company faces serious competition from Airbus.

"It is no way an indication that a strike is likely or how the current negotiations are going," said Connie Kelliher, a spokeswoman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 751.

The current three-year contract expires at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 2. Labor talks are expected to intensify in August. The union, she said, is concerned about job security, health care and pensions, especially since the average age of its members is 49.

In the Puget Sound area, there are about 16,300 Boeing machinists. Kelliher said that includes 600 job titles, such as assemblers, electricians, painters, nurses and plumbers.

Machinists in Wichita, Kan., and Portland held similar strike-authorization votes yesterday. Those results will be released today. Nationally, the Machinists union is the largest at Boeing.

Boeing spokesman Chaz Bickers said the aerospace company is optimistic with how the negotiations are going.

"We're having a good discussion about the underlying business realities," he said, referring partly to Airbus and the company's defense business. "We always say we need a contract that helps us be competitive."

He added that health care costs are a "competitive issue" for Boeing because they have been rising so fast.

While the company offers employees a compensation package including health care and retirement benefits, Bickers said, the average hourly wage for a machinist is about $28 per hour.

In October, Boeing is scheduled to open negotiations with another union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which has about 17,300 members in the Seattle area.

As of July 7, Boeing had about 59,200 employees in the Puget Sound region -- which is equal to the number of workers it had in the area in February 2003.

P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 206-448-8137 or bradwong@seattlepi.com.

Add P-I Business headlines to