'Cheers And Jeers' As Boeing Machinists Narrowly OK Contract
There were "cheers and jeers" from rank-and-file union members late Friday when it was announced that a key new contract with aircraft maker Boeing had been approved by a bare majority vote, our colleagues at Seattle's KPLU report.
With 51 percent of the 24,000 or so local machinists who voted saying yes to the pact, Boeing's " 'best and final' offer [now] guarantees assembly of the next 777 widebody jet and the fabrication of the plane's carbon-fiber wing" will be done at plants in the Puget Sound region.
But while the pact passed, KPLU writes that "not all machinists were pleased. ... Jim Levitt, a machinist of 35 years who voted to reject the deal, called the results 'a setback for not only Boeing workers but American workers as a whole.' ... Mitch Rose, a third-generation Boeing worker, said he voted to reject the deal, which took away 'what my grandfather and father have fought for.' '
The Seattle Times says that "when the result was announced inside the Seattle union hall filled with militant machinists who opposed the contract, some men and women wiped away tears and a few cried openly."
The Associated Press notes that:
"Local officials of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had urged their 30,000 members to oppose the deal, arguing that the proposal surrendered too much at a time of company profitability. They had opposed taking a vote at all but were overruled by national leaders in the Machinists union. ...
"Opponents of the contract opposed the idea of freezing the Machinists' pensions and moving workers to a defined-contribution savings plan.
"The issue fractured the union and drew unusual pleas from politicians who said the deal was necessary to support the area's economic future. Boeing has been exploring the prospect of building the 777X elsewhere, a move that could trigger a steady exodus of aerospace jobs from the place where Boeing was founded."