ST. LOUIS – Nearly 2,600 union Machinists in suburban St. Louis will decide Sunday whether to accept a tentative agreement between the Boeing Co. and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837.
The tentative three-year deal was reached late Wednesday. The Chicago-based aerospace company said the agreement calls for an average 9.5 percent compensation increase over the life of the contract, as well as a 17 percent increase in pension benefits.
The IAM workers are part of Boeing’s St. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems, making everything from fighter jets such as the F-18 Super Hornet and the F-15 Eagle to missiles and component parts.
The ratification vote is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday at the St. Charles Convention Center. The current contract expires that same day. Union members voted 1,167 to 38 last month to authorize a strike if an agreement wasn’t reached.
“This contract recognizes the contributions employees have made to the company’s success and addresses today’s business realities so that Boeing St. Louis can remain competitive in the years ahead,” said Steve Jacques, Integrated Defense Systems vice president of manufacturing.
The contract calls for a 4 percent general wage increase this year and another 3 percent increase in 2009. But it also calls for lump-sum payments of $2,500 in both 2007 and 2008. The company said the deal will provide about $24,000 in addition compensation over the term of the agreement.
The average Machinist earns about $58,000 annually, Machinists spokesman Tom Pinski said.
The improvement in the pension plan will mean workers retiring after July 1 will have benefits of $70 per month for each year of service.
Pinski called the negotiations contentious and said union leaders were already hearing some dissatisfaction from the rank-and-file. Chief among their concerns is a provision allowing new classifications within labor grades.
“It is not a perfect contract,” Pinski said. “There are issues our membership won’t like.”
But union negotiators successfully fought Boeing’s requests to exempt less-experienced workers from layoffs if they had skills deemed essential to production. The union said that proposal would have allowed management to ignore the rights of workers with seniority.
“That was a big deal to our members,” Pinski said. “We’re glad to see that gone.”
Boeing purchased its former rival, St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas, in 1997. The merger came a year after the most recent strike at the facilities, when Machinists walked off the job for 99 days.
The tentative deal covers only Machinists in District 837.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
