If Ratified, Machinists Will Be Back On Job As Soon As Sunday Night

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers will vote Saturday on whether to accept a tentative contract agreement with Boeing.

IAM officials say the November 1 ballot date was chosen in part to allow workers to vote at the same time they pick up their weekly $150 strike checks. The vote will have just one ballot -- to accept or reject the contract -- and needs only a simple majority of 50 percent plus one of voting members to either accept or reject the offer, which IAM officials reached Monday evening following four days of mediated talks with Boeing.

Local 751, the IAM chapter representing some 27,000 workers at Boeing, released details of the agreement on its web site Tuesday. The new contract includes a 15 percent cumulative pay raise over its four year term, with represented workers awarded a 5 percent increase in the first year, with 3%, 3% and 4% increases following.

That compares favorably to Boeing's "last, best offer" prior to the September 4 strike vote, which called for a total of 11 percent over three years.

The new contract also includes signing bonuses of at least $8000 over the first three years of the contract, which workers eligible for first-year bonuses equivalent to 10 percent of last year's earnings or $5,000, whichever is greater. Pension contributions will also increase.

To address the most contentious area of negotiations -- outsourced labor and parts manufacturing -- the two sides came to a somewhat "labored" compromise that limits the time outside subcontractors may spend inside Boeing facilities. That had been a sore point with the union since 2002.

"Except for 787 final assembly, vendors are limited to delivering products to designated areas only," the union writes. "From there, bargaining unit employees will track use, disbursement, acquisition, and/or inventory of parts, materials, tools, kits and other goods or products."

If workers ratify the contract, machinists could return to Boeing production lines as soon as late Sunday night, with most returning Monday morning... thus bringing an end to what at that point will have been a 58-day walkout.

"Our Union has delivered what few Americans have -- economic certainty and quality benefits over the next four years," the IAM boasted on its site. "...The fight for job security is something we battle every contract, every opportunity and every day. In this round, we won the battle and made some significant gains. In the fight for job security, we won.

"We will fight again in every contract going forward, as long as companies like Boeing see an advantage in bolstering their bottom line by sacrificing quality for the cheapest labor," IAM concludes. "At 30,000 feet airline customers want quality."

FMI: www.goiam.org, www.iam751.org, www.boeing.com