Boeing, Machinists call off negotiations

The Boeing Co. and its Machinists union called off their latest round of negotiations Monday, according to a company statement.

“We worked very hard to find solutions, and we are extremely disappointed that the talks broke off,” said Doug Kight, Boeing’s lead negotiator, in a statement. “We want to resolve this strike so employees can return to work, but we cannot sacrifice our ability to continuously improve productivity and our long-term competitiveness for an agreement.”

Company and union leaders had rekindled contract talks late last week after more than a monthlong stalemate. The Machinists went on strike Sept. 6, bringing Boeing’s commercial jet production to a halt. No new talks are currently scheduled.

Approximately 27,000 employees in Washington, Oregon and Kansas are represented by the union.

“The Union had hoped Boeing would come to the table looking to resolve this strike, which is in its fifth week; however, this was not the case,” said Tom Wroblewski, Machinists’ district president, in a statement.

The union voted down the company’s contract offer in early September. The Machinists say Boeing needs to better its offer in terms of wages, pension, health care and job security.

Boeing’s chief executive Jim McNerney last week said the company needs to be able to outsource to retain its competitive edge in the market. The Machinists want to be able to bid on work that Boeing wants to send out. The union has pointed to Boeing’s troubles with its heavily outsourced 787 Dreamliner as reason the Machinists should be able to do more Boeing work in house.

“The Company is attempting to put the Union in an unacceptable position to bargain away our members’ jobs,” Wroblewski said.