No settlement in sight, Boeing’s labor case to head to court

Published 2:48 pm Friday, June 10, 2011

Prepare for a lengthy battle.

A settlement, which could preempt a federal labor hearing next week, doesn’t look to be in the cards for the Boeing Co. and its Machinists union.

Boeing faces a complaint by the National Labor Relations Board in which the company is accused of punishing its Machinists union here by opening a 787 final assembly site in South Carolina.

An administrative law judge will hear the labor board’s complaint on Tuesday in Seattle. The case could drag on for years, winding its way from this hearing through an appeals court and to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Boeing has turned down a settlement deal by the Machinists. Company spokesman Tim Neale told the Wall Street Journal that the Machinists’ request “went well beyond what we would consider reasonable” and included a demand to keep future jet production in union-friendly states like Washington or Kansas.

But Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for the Machinists union, said Boeing hasn’t been willing to talk about a settlement at all.

“You can’t negotiate by yourself,” she said.

Kelliher said the union is open to talking about a settlement even after the hearing begins. Boeing’s spokesman similarly said the company is willing to listen.

For more on the labor case, read the Sunday edition of The Herald.