Boeing Machinists union training center opens in Everett

EVERETT — The union representing Boeing machinists opened its first training center in Everett on Friday.

Brian Bryant, international president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the circumstances were different than the last time he was in Everett.

“Last time I was here, this building was under construction and we were picketing right down here on the sidewalk,” Bryant told 100 union workers at the new training center and union hall, located across from the sprawling Boeing Everett plant. “So it’s nice to be inside here.”

Seventeen thousand machinists shut down the Boeing facility during a bitter 53-day strike that ended on Nov. 5. The old union hall was demolished in 2021.

Union officials wouldn’t reveal the cost of the 20,000-square-foot, three-story facility. The building contains several training rooms equipped with a robotic arm and virtual reality gear. Instead of actually spray-painting or welding plane parts, trainees wear VR glasses and hold VR tools designed to simulate the experience.

The facility also contains a large auditorium with several hundred seats for union meetings.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, attended Friday’s ceremony. Cantwell said the training facility was needed because of estimates that the U.S. may have a shortfall of over 2 million machinists by 2030.

“Can you image?” she said. “America’s competitiveness is at stake.”

Her comments were based on a 2021 study by consulting firm Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute — the workforce development and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Bryant said the training center will help community members get union jobs at Boeing. But he also pitched it as a valuable resource for other manufacturing companies in the region whose workers would also be able to get job training.

Bryant said the center will enable investment in Snohomish County workers, enabling high-paying jobs that will allow people to own homes and thrive in the community.

He said the training center would help the union but also the Boeing company, stressing a partnership with the aerospace manufacturer to give jobs to trainees.

IAM Local 751, which represents about 33,000 Boeing machinists in Washington, already runs apprentice training programs in Tukwila, Vancouver and Spokane. The Washington union, however, has never operated a training program in Everett, said Adam Grim, senior director of operations for The Machinists Institute, the nonprofit educational arm of Local 751.

While previous union apprentice programs have trained workers for a variety of factory jobs at various companies, a new Machinists Institute offering in Everett starting in the fall will offer potential direct employment to a Boeing job, Grim said.

He said a direct Machinists Institute program for Boeing factory employment at the Everett center will train workers in spray painting, manual machining, blueprint reading and assembly line quality control, among other areas.

Grim said successful completion of the 12-week program would give trainees the first opportunity at a Boeing factory job ahead of other applicants.

“They skip the interview, it gives them kinda of a side door into Boeing,” he said.

He said the pre-employment Boeing program was offered for the first time last fall at the Tukwila location with eight graduates.

Grim said while only one of the graduates has received a job at Boeing so far, the certifications the workers receive are good for two years, giving the trainees a considerable amount of time to find a Boeing job.

Boeing officials did not respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.

Grim said the first pre-employment Boeing program at Everett could be small, around eight workers, but anticipates the center could be training 800 workers a year within several years, though not just at Boeing.

It’s unclear how many jobs will be available at the Everett factory in the future.

On Oct. 11, 2024, in the middle of the machinists’ strike, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced plans for a 10% reduction in the Boeing global workforce.

An analysis by the Everett Herald of Washington State Employment Security Department data found that no machinists union members were affected by the reduction so far, but that Boeing did reduce its Everett workforce by more than 1,400 employees in February and March — over half of the 2,595 workers impacted in the state.

The layoff mostly affected engineers, project managers, data workers and procurement specialists, the analysis showed.

As of Friday, the Boeing website showed 74 open positions in Everett, but many were technical positions, and only several of them were union line positions in the Boeing Everett factory.

Boeing manufactures the 767 freighter at the Everett plant but production is supposed to end in 2027. The plant also makes the 777 freighter.

The future of the plant is largely dependent on the 777X family of wide-body planes. Boeing has more than 500 orders for the plane — two passenger versions and a freighter — but mechanical issues have delayed the first delivery of the 777X from 2019 to 2026.

Boeing officials have also announced that a production line for the 737-10 narrow-body aircraft will be added to the Everett plant, but have not specified a date. The plane is currently produced at Boeing’s Renton facility.

Boeing is under Federal Aviation restrictions limiting it to producing 38 of the planes per month. The restrictions were imposed after a door blew off of a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 in January 2024. It is not expected that Everett will get the new production line until the restrictions are lifted.

Grim said once Everett gets the production line, Boeing should need a steady stream of new factory workers at the plant.

Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.