Boeing’s Machinists Call a New Vote

Boeing Co.’s biggest union will vote again on management’s latest contract proposal because of confusion among workers about the initial ballot, union officials said Friday.

The machinists union, which is seeking bigger pensions and stronger job guarantees, voted Thursday on what the huge airplane manufacturer calls its “best and final” offer and on whether to authorize a strike.

But workers said they cast their votes without knowing what they were supposed to do after the current contract expires at midnight Sunday. That prompted the union to seal the results and call a new vote.

“There’s a lot of confusion out there with our membership,” said Mark Blondin, president of the Machinists District 751.

The outcome is likely to determine whether the union’s 25,000 members at Boeing plants in Washington state, Portland, Ore., and Wichita, Kan., go through with a walkout.

Boeing spokesman Chuck Cadena said the company would respect the results of a second vote and said one should be held as soon as possible.

Blondin said members had complained of confusion during Thursday’s vote, after a federal mediator asked the union and Boeing to resume negotiations and extend the current contract.

Although the union quickly agreed, Boeing refused; the company says it will not budge from its last offer.

Chicago-based Boeing’s negotiators agreed Friday to meet with the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Washington, D.C. But the company plans only to explain the rationale behind its final proposal and will not participate in further contract talks with the machinists, Cadena said.

The union intends to meet with the mediator Wednesday in hopes that Boeing will have changed its mind on further talks. If Boeing refuses, the union will vote again on the standing offer. No date for the vote has been set.

“To ensure that every member is again given an opportunity to express their true opinion, we will revote,” Blondin said.

Union members will continue to work after the contract expires, union leaders said, putting off the threat of a strike. Boeing said employees are welcome to return to work under terms of the existing contract.

Machinists had been seeking to more than double pensions and to secure job guarantees linked to aircraft deliveries, revenue or other business benchmarks.

Boeing’s final offer would have raised pensions by 20% by the third year of the contract and included no substantial changes to its job security contract language, inciting union leaders whose membership has been slashed by 25% since Sept. 11 because of companywide layoffs.

The company’s contract offer also calls for changes in employee health-care costs, including increases in monthly premiums.

Boeing offered an 8% ratification bonus for accepting the contract, and raises of 2% and 2.5% in the second and third years of the contract.