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<< Previous   of   Next >> Kevin Nortz / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Boeing Machinists Ron and Alyce Torrey (front and center) cheer on union officials Wednesday morning at KeyArena in Seattle. The Machinists were making a preliminary vote on the possibility of strike over contract renewals this year.  Photo Gallery: Boeing Machinists   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, July 17, 2008 Boeing Machinists say they're willing to strike By Michelle Dunlop Herald Writer SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. Machinists showed Wednesday that they're ready to strike should the union and the aerospace giant fail to come to terms on a new contract later this summer. "Today, the Boeing plants around the Puget Sound are empty in a show of solidarity," said Tom Wroblewski, district president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers. "You have shut down the biggest aerospace company in the world. Without you, there are no Boeing airplanes." Thousands of Machinists gathered at KeyArena to decide whether to give their negotiators the preliminary OK to strike should the labor group find Boeing's best contract offer unsatisfactory. Roughly 99 percent of the Machinists who attended meetings in Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and Wichita, Kan., voted for the strike sanction. The Machinists will vote on Boeing's final proposal in early September and decide then whether to strike. The strong showing of Machinists on Wednesday, however, should send Boeing a message: Its union members are united and determined, Wroblewski said. Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said while the company understood the union's need to hold a vote, it was disappointed that the Machinists planned a number of associated activities that took workers away for the full day. Union members who voted received free admission to Seattle Center exhibits and museums. Machinist Eddie Bjorgo stood near the entrance to KeyArena on Wednesday morning. With 18 years at Boeing under his belt, Bjorgo wanted to educate Machinists who are new to the union and handed out fliers outlining a generally shared concern: pay. The Machinist, who works in Everett, noted that Boeing's entry-level pay hasn't been boosted in years. And he feels that it takes too long for new Machinists to move up the pay scale. Bjorgo's message hit home with Donte Jones, 25, who has worked with Boeing for the last two years. This will be Jones' first contract negotiation. "We're trying to get more money," said Jones, who works in Boeing's Renton factory. Boeing officials say they recognize that entry-level wages need to be raised, but they say that Machinists who are on the top end of the wage scale already make more than do workers in comparable industries. It's issues like this that make Jones feel as if Boeing is trying to drive a wedge between the "old timers" and the new employees. "They want to take the pension plan away from the new guys," Jones said. Boeing has said it wants to do away with offering pensions to new Machinists and instead offer them a 401(k)-type savings plan. Union officials already have threatened to strike if Boeing doesn't change its mind on pensions. In 2005, Machinists went on strike for 28 days against Boeing over pension increases, retiree health insurance and health-care issues. Much has changed in the last three years, Wroblewski noted. "We are in the strongest bargaining position we've been in years," he said. Boeing has won more than 1,000 net orders in each of the past three years. At the end of June, the Chicago-based jet manufacturer had a backlog of 3,661 unfilled aircraft orders. The demand for orders has meant that Boeing has been on a hiring spree in the Puget Sound region, exhausting the list of thousands of Machinists it laid off following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and forcing the company to hire about 6,000 new Machinists. Boeing and the Machinists already have exchanged contract proposals. Their representatives continue to meet regularly. Healy said the company feels the two sides are making progress. The aerospace company recently submitted a health-care proposal to the union, a step it usually doesn't take until the two sit down for serious negotiations in late August. Although Wroblewski said he's "cautiously optimistic" about contract talks, he believes Boeing is "more interested in talking" than responding to the Machinists' demands. Adding extra pressure to this year's negotiations is Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program. Boeing outsourced major sections of the mostly composite 787 and has suffered a number of supplier and production setbacks. The company wants to put its 787 in the air by the end of the year and deliver it -- albeit 15 months late -- in the third quarter of 2009. "Let's keep the work in house and keep the vendors off the property," said Mark Blondin, aerospace coordinator for the Machinists, to a loud roar of applause. Adding his own take on the Machinists' contract slogan of "It's our time, this time," Blondin said he sees this year as "payback time." "We've sacrificed. We took less during the lean times," Blondin said. "Now it's time to get ours." Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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