Machinists union members vote today on whether to end their strike against the Boeing Co.
Voting on the company’s proposed new contract starts at 5 a.m. at five locations around Puget Sound, including the Everett union hall at 8729 Airport Road. Voting will end at 6 p.m., and union officials will announce the results at their district headquarters in Seattle tonight.
| Today is the 28th day of the International Association of Machinists’ strike against the Boeing Co. Machinists vote today on a new contract offer. If a majority accept the contract, the strike will end and union members will start returning to work around 11 tonight.
Vote results will be posted at www.heraldnet.com as they become available. Look for complete coverage in Friday’s Herald. |
If a majority of members vote in favor of the contract, the strike – now in its 28th day – would end almost immediately. Third-shift workers would start returning to their jobs tonight, while the rest would go back to work for their regular shifts on Friday.
Union leaders recommend that members approve the three-year contract, which would:
* Increase pension benefits 16.7 percent, to $70 a month per year of service.
* Extend the health care programs and premiums from the previous contract.
* Maintain health care benefits for retired workers.
* Bring some work rules in line with union proposals, including who delivers parts to the assembly line and how factory team leaders are picked.
The contract would not grant general wage increases, but union members would get an 8 percent ratification bonus, plus lump-sum payments of $3,000 in both the second and third years, and quarterly cost-of-living raises linked to inflation.
Union leaders say the contract is far superior to the one 86 percent of Machinists voted to reject Sept. 1, triggering the strike.
“On every major issue – from health insurance and pension to retiree medical and team leader – your solidarity forced Boeing to change their offer,” the bargaining team said in a memo to union members.
“You stood together and said, ‘No,’ and scored a victory for working families across the country.”
Keeping the old health insurance plan will save members $2,000 to $4,000 a year from Boeing’s first contract proposal, they said.
People walking the picket line this week seemed inclined to accept the contract.
“Sure, I’ll take the retirement pay and no take-aways on health care,” Gary Johnson, a Machinist from Mill Creek, said Monday.
But not all Machinists are impressed with the offer. Crane operator Don Grinde of Marysville said he planned to vote against it. Instead of dangling cash bonuses, Boeing should put more money into pensions, he said, and the Machinists should stay on strike until it does.
“We gave up too much to get this far,” Grinde said. “It is a shame to stop now when we were so close.”
And other Machinists said the 8 percent ratification bonus – which is calculated on workers’ earnings over the 12 months prior to the strike – isn’t worth much to those who were recently called back to work after several years of being laid off.
“It’s disturbing and it’s wrong,” said John Denman, a machine operator from Snohomish.
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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