Union Urges Refusal of Boeing Offer

Boeing Co.’s machinists may go out on strike next week, halting airliner production at the world’s biggest plane maker, after union leaders Tuesday urged members to reject the company’s proposal for a new three-year contract. The current contract expires Sunday.

Boeing’s final offer of a 20% boost in pensions wasn’t enough, and new health-care premiums would add $10,000 in costs for some members, said the International Assn. of Machinists, which represents 25,000 Boeing workers at plants in Washington state, Oregon and Kansas.

Boeing also didn’t offer job security guarantees the union wanted.

Boeing’s 20% offer on pension benefits, however, was more than its initial proposal of 12%. And while the company also is offering to give workers a higher bonus if they approve the contract, it also is proposing new shop-floor rules that the union has said could send jobs to outside companies.

The offer “appears to be unacceptable on every point,” said Matt Bates, a spokesman for the International Assn. of Machinists.

The machinists are scheduled to vote Thursday and would strike Monday if the offer is rejected. Should that happen, it would be Boeing’s second walkout since 2000 and comes at a time when many airlines, reeling with losses, have pressed for delivery delays.

The workers, with an average age of 46 and a salary of $50,000, have said they’re most concerned with boosting retirement benefits and getting new job protections. The union called for a doubling in pension benefits and wanted the company to guarantee a minimum of jobs tied to annual deliveries.

Boeing has said it can’t guarantee work.

In a summary of the contract proposal, the company said it would pledge not to lay off any employees as a result of subcontracting. It also proposed rules that would let outside contractors install parts within Boeing’s factories, something union negotiators say would cost hundreds of jobs.

Boeing also said it would raise the signing bonus in the contract’s first year to 8% and boost wages 2% in the second year and 2.5% in the third year. The initial proposal was for a 6% signing bonus and a 2.5% wage increase in each of the contract’s last two years.

Shares of Boeing rose 14 cents to $37.03 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have fallen 30% in the last year.