EVERETT — The Groves family doesn’t know how they’ll vote — not on the presidential election, but on the Boeing Co.’s latest offer to the striking Machinists.
But family members said Tuesday they’re inclined to say no.
“It pretty much looks like the same offer as the last one but spread over four years,” said Rebecca Groves, a Boeing materials handler, while standing picket duty in Everett on Tuesday.
The Groves, like the other 27,000 striking Machinists, will head to the union polls Saturday to decide whether to accept Boeing’s contract. Company and union negotiators agreed on a new four-year contract late Monday after five days of mediated talks and 52 days into a work stoppage. Union leaders have urged members to accept Boeing’s offer.
The new contract would last for four years, rather than the normal three-year term. Machinists will vote while picking up their weekly $150 strike checks at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe. The contract needs the support of 50 percent plus one to pass.
“Our union has delivered what few Americans have — economic certainty and quality benefits over the next four years,” wrote Tom Wroblewski, district union president, in a statement Monday.
But Tuesday afternoon, after reading the union’s summary of the contract, many Machinists were inclined to reject the offer. That includes Rebecca Groves, her sister-in-law Jodi and her mother Pam, all materials handlers at Boeing. While the offer protects their jobs for the next four years, Pam Groves was worried about the future.
“I’d love to be back to work next week, but I just don’t know yet,” she said.
Her daughter-in-law Jodi Groves thought the strike would have been for nothing since she believes Boeing’s offer wasn’t significantly better than its last. But the Groves were worried about having jobs to return to if they don’t approve this contract.
Boeing Machinists could report back as soon as Monday if the contract offer is approved. Boeing and the union will meet Wednesday to determine the final details of a settlement, including how quickly the Machinists will need to report back to work at Boeing.
“We made some concessions on outsourcing, but we still have the flexibility to run the business,” said Tim Healy, Boeing’s spokesman, on Tuesday.
Over on Seaway Boulevard in Everett, the dozen Machinists striking there had made up their minds to reject the contract.
Michael Lajudice, a union steward who started at Boeing in 1996, echoed many of the Groves family’s concerns.
“I still honestly think it’s a subpar contract spread over four years,” Lajudice said.
Although Lajudice plans to reject the contract, he thinks it will pass simply because a lot of the newer Machinists need a paycheck. But Lajudice isn’t shy about breaking from the union leaders’ recommendation.
During the Machinists’ work stoppage in 1995, union leadership recommended members ratify a Boeing offer 45 days into that strike. But members rejected their leaders’ recommendation and Boeing’s offer, striking for 69 days. More recently, in 2002, members accepted a contract that union leaders urged them to reject.
Lajudice noted that union leaders continue to collect a paycheck during the strike while members receive the only weekly $150 strike pay. And he thinks leadership may have been pressured to accept the contract during the recent talks with a federal mediator in Washington, D.C.
“I think it falls short,” he said.
Sean Dempsey, a 777 worker, and Tim Staton, a 787 Machinist, both have about 18 months of experience at Boeing. Both think they’ll vote to reject Boeing’s offer, which includes a 15 percent wage increase over four years. The new offer also froze health care costs for members at the current contract levels.
“I don’t think the bonus reflects the fact that we’ve been on strike for over 50 days,” Dempsey said.
Newer Machinists, making $12.82 hourly, will have lost approximately $5,000 in wages and overtime by Saturday. The average Machinist, however, making $65,000 annually in wages and overtime, will have lost $10,000.
Boeing’s new offer includes a $5,000 bonus in the first year or 10 percent of a Machinist’s salary, whichever is greater. Machinists also receive $1,500 in years two and three but no lump sum payment in the final year — a concern for several Machinists on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems, which builds 737 fuselages and parts of other Boeing aircraft, is waiting for striking Machinists to vote before making decisions about its own schedule.
Spirit spokeswoman Debbie Gann said Tuesday that even if the Boeing contract is ratified, the Wichita-based company won’t immediately resume full production. She says Spirit will have to sync its production schedule with Boeing’s ramp-up.
Most of Spirit’s 10,500 employees have been working a three-day workweek since the strike began. The company also warned employees earlier this month that it might look at a shutdown and temporary layoffs if the Boeing strike went on much longer.
Boeing is Spirit’s biggest customer.
Dallas-based Vought Aircraft Industries, which makes aft fuselage sections for Boeing’s 787, laid off 50 of its 535 workers on Friday. Rockwell Collins, which provides the flight deck display and other systems, reduced its Iowa staff through cuts in overtime, attrition and voluntary layoffs that were accepted by 80 workers.
Separately, Boeing’s contract talks with its union engineers will move into high gear later Wednesday. The company hopes to avoid a second strike, this one by its white-collar union, which represents 21,000 scientists, engineers, manual writers, technicians and other hourly workers.
Shares of Chicago-based Boeing rose $6.55, or nearly 16 percent, to $48.91, on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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