Boeing, Machinists differ on wages and pensions for younger employees

EVERETT — Look around the Boeing Co.’s factory in Everett and you’ll see something that was missing for nearly a decade: youth.

“It is very refreshing to see the new kids,” said Tom Wroblewski, president of the local Boeing Machinists union, in an interview in June.

The “new kids” haven’t yet overrun Boeing’s immense commercial jet factory or its office buildings around the Puget Sound region. Their growing presence, however, hasn’t escaped the attention of the aerospace giant or its unions, especially in a year of contract negotiations like 2008.

Boeing expects to see nearly half of its work force retire in the next decade, meaning those in their 20s and 30s will have a larger seat at the labor talks table in 2011. Recognizing younger workers’ importance, both Boeing and its Machinists union are dangling different carrots for the contract later this summer.

Boeing says it’s adjusting benefit plans to meet the needs of a changing work force. Citing widely published studies, the company notes that most people entering the work force today will change careers at least a half dozen times. As part of its contract pitch given to the Machinists in May, Boeing proposes to eliminate its traditional pension plan for new employees and replace it with a 401(k)-type retirement savings plan.

For their part, the Machinists emphasize the need to boost entry-level pay for workers. Under their current contract, Boeing can hire Machinists at a rate of $12.72 an hour. That’s got to change, the Machinists say.

Wroblewski, president of the local district of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, has been with the union for three decades. He remembers being a young Machinist and he has watched his fellow Machinists age.

During contract talks in 2005, roughly 92 percent of Boeing Machinists in the region were 40 or older. About 41 percent of Machinists then were 50 or older, while essentially none of the union’s members were under the age of 30. At the time the company hadn’t been on a large-scale hiring spree of Machinists in a decade. And it had laid off thousands after the terrorist attacks of 2001.

Shortly after the new contract was signed in 2005, Boeing exhausted its list of Machinists with recall rights, freeing up the company to hire new employees of all ages.

The jet maker employs more workers, 10,600, over the age of 50 than it did three years ago when about 6,250 Machinists fit that age group. But it also employs more Machinists, nearly 5,000, under the age of 40. Nearly half of those Machinists, or 2,300 of them, fall into the under-30 category, a segment so minor in 2005 that the Machinists didn’t even segment that age group.

Both Boeing and the Machinists union are trying new ways to get their messages across to the younger generation.

Doug Kight, Boeing’s lead negotiator, has started an internal blog for labor relations information. The Machinists offer text-messaging, as well as e-mail, as a way for members to get the latest contract communications. The international union has added regular YouTube video updates as part of its communications with members.

But the latest technology isn’t necessarily the best way to get the union’s message across.

“It’s very important that the older generation engage the younger generation,” Wroblewski said.

The young and old turned out for recent Machinists strike vote held in Seattle’s KeyArena. Seasoned Machinists such as Eddie Bjorgo, an 18-year Boeing employee, passed out talking points to newly hired workers while young Machinists held signs that read “Show me the money.”

Wroblewski is confident that Machinists will stand together even if contract topics divide them. Many young Machinists are second- or third-generation Boeing workers, he said. That means they understand the importance of being in a union.

“By staying together, we should be able to get some for each,” Wroblewski said.

His message hit home with Becky Davenport, who joined the union six months ago when she started at Boeing. The 30-year-old works in Everett on the 777 wing. Despite her short tenure at Boeing, Davenport said she’s prepared to strike. Her older co-workers, who have lived through more labor talks than she has, have advised Davenport on what to expect as the union and Boeing head into round-the-clock negotiations in August.

Davenport hopes the union can negotiate a general wage increase and maintain good health insurance. But she’s also concerned about preserving the pension system for new employees and ensuring that Boeing increases pension for its retirees.

“They looked out for us,” Davenport said. “We’ve got to do the same for them.”

Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.