Boeing responded on Friday to concerns about a tentative labor contract with its Puget Sound area Machinists.
The four-year deal was initially proposed Wednesday, after secret talks between leaders of the aerospace company and Machinists union. If union members ratify the contract extension, they’ll pledge labor peace until September 2016, wipe away a federal labor dispute with Boeing and secure 737 MAX work in Renton.
“Let me be as clear as I can possibly be: If this agreement is ratified, the MAX will be built in our Renton factory,” wrote Jim Albaugh, in a message sent Friday to Machinists.
Not all Machinists are sold on the contract, which union members will vote on Wednesday.
In a letter to union leadership, Machinist Sally Kruse said it’s unlikely Boeing will be able to keep 737 work in Renton if it increases production rates much beyond what’s already being discussed.
“This is no promise of job security,” she wrote.
According to wording in the Machinists’ contract, Boeing will build its existing 737 and 737 MAX in Renton “to the extent such production can be feasibly completed in the current and existing 737 Renton production facilities.”
Despite the vague wording, Machinists’ spokeswoman Connie Kelliher reiterated on Wednesday that Boeing had committed to building the 737 MAX in Renton.
Asked whether the contract prevented Boeing from putting a second 737 MAX line elsewhere, Kelliher again stressed Boeing’s stated plan to build the MAX in Renton. But she said, “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Scott Hamilton, a local analyst with Leeham Co., also downplayed on Wednesday skepticism over Boeing’s commitment to build the 737 MAX in Renton.
Putting another line elsewhere “wouldn’t be in the spirit” of what Boeing and the Machinists announced Wednesday, he said.
On Friday, Albaugh tried to convince Machinists’ of Boeing’s intent.
“As we move to get the MAX up and running, we want to build on the world-class production system already in place,” he wrote in his message to workers. “That’s why the MAX team is based at the Renton site, working hand-in-hand with leaders of the Next-Generation 737 program.”
In a Boeing news item on the company’s website, Boeing said it already has 300 people in Renton working on the MAX. It plans to increase that to 1,000 MAX workers in the next two years.
Boeing said it has invested millions of dollars in the Renton factory and plans to make more capital investment as needed.
Boeing’s Albaugh recorded this video message to Machinists:
The Herald has this poll on the upcoming contract vote:
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