Union Will Reportedly Seek To Kill The NLRB Complaint, As Well

It's truly a 'Win-Win'... ANN is monitoring details of recent news surrounding agreements reached in the last few hours between Boeing and the IAM.

Boeing is allowing to the union to do most of the talking but has posted the following:

Boeing is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the IAM for a four-year contract extension that reflects a new era of working together between the company and its IAM-represented employees. The deal, which must be ratified by IAM members in Washington, Oregon and Kansas, provides significant economic gains for workers, demonstrates Boeing’s long-term commitment to airplane production in the Puget Sound region — which includes the investment to be made for production of the 737 MAX — and joins the union and company in a new relationship with common goals and objectives.
 
Boeing appreciates the sincere efforts of IAM leadership at all levels for the open and constructive dialogue across a range of issues that led to this tentative agreement. We are hopeful that employees covered under the current contract will see the advantages in, and importance of, this agreement and the expressed desire of the company and the union to work toward mutual objectives that support both improved competitiveness and increased job opportunities. 

Terms of the four-year proposal include:

• Annual wage increases of 2 percent, plus cost-of-living adjustments;
• An incentive program intended to pay bonuses between 2 and 4 percent;
• A ratification bonus of $5,000 for each member;
• Increases to the formula for calculating pensions in each year of the pact; and
• Guarantees that new hires would continue to receive traditional pensions.

  

IAM District Lodge 751 President Tom Wroblewski called it an “extraordinary proposal.”

The proposed contract extension would “secure thousands of jobs while raising Machinists’ pay and pensions,” he said. “Hopefully it also signals the start of a new relationship that can both meet our members’ expectations for good jobs, while giving Boeing the stability and productivity it needs to succeed.”

Of major importance to the union and residents of Washington state, Boeing has also committed to building the 737 MAX in Renton, stating that it "intends to build the new 737 MAX in Renton, Wash., pending approval of an early contract extension with the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing hourly employees in Washington, Oregon and Kansas."

As part of an effort to improve their relationship, Boeing and the IAM have been discussing the potential for an early contract extension for several weeks. The current contract is set to expire in September 2012. Independent of that effort, Boeing has been conducting a review of potential sites for 737 MAX production since the company announced in August that it will build a new-engine variant of the market-leading 737.

Boeing has assessed the business case for locating production of the 737 MAX in Renton in light of the economics of a proposed new labor agreement, and the company is prepared to locate 737 MAX production in Renton provided the economics contained in that proposal are achieved. Upon ratification of such an agreement by hourly employees, Boeing says it will make the necessary investment to produce Next-Generation 737s and 737 MAXs in its existing Renton facility.

"The 737 MAX builds upon the legacy of the world's best single-aisle airplane and continues to generate overwhelming response from our customers," said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive officer, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "If our employees ratify a new agreement, building the 737 MAX in Renton will secure a long and prosperous future there, as well as at other sites in the Puget Sound area and in Portland, Ore., where 737 parts are built."

The deal gives Boeing at least four years of strike-free breathing room and part of the deal reportedly will entail having the union seek the consent of the NLRB (who has decision making authority at this point) to dismiss the complaint that union made that started a massive political firestorm. ANN will have more details as they develop....

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.goiam.org