Boeing contract proposal scorned by Machinists

"It fell well short of all your top issues," the union said in an e-mail that was sent to its 18,000-plus members, most of them in the Puget Sound region.

A spokeswoman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the message was intended for union members and not the news media, and she declined comment, other than to say that talks with Boeing are continuing.

The two sides have been in constant negotiations at the DoubleTree Hotel at Sea-Tac for more than a week. And the union's response to the company's proposal was, perhaps, not surprising at this stage of the talks.

The current three-year contract ends at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 2, and Boeing has said it will have a final offer to the union by Tuesday. Voting is set for Sept. 1.

Until Wednesday, both sides had called the ongoing labor talks productive, but had said little publicly.

That quickly changed.

"They spent the better part of (Tuesday) preparing this complete offer, but failed to even come close on any of your issues," the union said in its message to members.

It described Boeing's proposal on pensions -- the top union issue -- as a "meager" increase.

There were "virtually" no job security provisions in the company's proposal, the union said.

And Boeing refused to "fix the team leader" issue, according to the union -- an issue that a veteran 777 Machinist at Boeing's Everett plant told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last week is "very important."

In the past, a person with seniority on a team could become its leader for a particular area. If someone with less seniority was appointed to that role, the union member with seniority could appeal through an established process. That system changed in the union's current contract, dissatisfying some members.

The company has said its position is that team leaders should be selected on the basis of their skills and ability, not seniority.

Boeing's proposal Wednesday also had medical takeaways and would reduce medical layoff benefits, the union said.

"Their initial complete proposal is an insult to the people who have made this company great through the worst times in our nation's history," the union said in its message.

"The proposal we saw today is far off the mark and shows they just don't get it. We do not like where the company is heading.

"In the past three years, during some of the most difficult times in company history, Boeing has tripled their profits because of your efforts. The thanks you get is a direct slap in the face."

The union said it was developing a counterproposal.

"The negotiation process continues with hopes of hammering out an agreement that addresses your issues -- issues that affect you and your family. It is up to you to help us turn things around. We cannot do it alone. Boeing is testing your resolve -- show them you are determined for them to do the right thing."

Boeing said that because of the negotiations, it would not respond directly to the union's statement.

But Boeing's chief labor negotiator, Jerry Calhoun, said late Wednesday on the company's Web site: "The offer we presented is balanced and competitive, respects the contributions of our team and compares favorably with recent contract settlements in our industry.

"Our proposal includes bonuses, pay increases and improvements to the pension plan. We also shared the designs of several health care plans that expand choice and improve quality. Each plan is structured so that Boeing continues paying the vast majority of health care costs."

The company said it expects bargaining to continue into the weekend.

The Machinists haven't gone on strike at Boeing since 1995 -- a walkout that lasted 95 days. The current contract, though, went into effect automatically three years ago after 62 percent of union members rejected a company proposal -- just shy of the two-thirds majority required to strike.

THE TWO SIDES

UNION RESPONSE

While neither Boeing nor the Machinists union gave details of what's in the company's first complete contract proposal, here's what the union said it didn't like about it:

Only a meager increase in pensions.

Reductions in medical benefits.

Lack of job security provisions.

Increased costs for retiree medical benefits.

Lack of "increases for Wichita."

Elimination of retiree medical benefits for new hires.

Failure to address a union complaint about the role of seniority in selection of team leaders.

Source: Machinist union e-mail to members

WHAT BOEING SAYS

Boeing's only response came from chief negotiator Jerry Calhoun on the company's Web site:

"...Our proposal includes bonuses, pay increases and improvements to the pension plan. We also shared the designs of several health care plans that expand choice and improve quality. Each plan is structured so that Boeing continues paying the vast majority of health care costs.

"In addition, we made a proposal specific to Wichita that is very competitive without requesting the wage concessions recently seen in that market."

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