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Boeing Offers Final Proposal to Machinists

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 31--Boeing extended its final contract proposal to the Machinists union on Tuesday. It offers Wichita workers a lump- sum cost-of-living bonus and a "gain-sharing" plan but no guaranteed wage increases.

Workers in the Pacific Northwest, however, will receive a 2.5 percent wage increase in the third year of the offer and twice the amount in bonuses that Wichita workers would receive.

Boeing's offer to all hourly workers covered under the contract includes a 10 percent pension increase and limits workers' cost of health insurance, especially if they participate in a wellness program, the company said.

Members in Wichita and the Pacific Northwest vote together Thursday on whether to accept the combined proposal.

The union represents 18,300 Boeing workers, including about 960 in Wichita. Wichita members will vote at the Machinists District 70 building at 3830 S. Meridian.

A statement from the Machinists union on Tuesday evening said its negotiating team was analyzing the offer and would "respond accordingly at the appropriate time."

Boeing's proposal offers Wichita workers a lump-sum cost-of-living bonus of $2,800. If workers deposit the money in a voluntary investment plan, Boeing will add another $1,400, making the package worth $4,200.

They also would be eligible for a "gain-sharing" incentive plan based on the Wichita operations' performance. The details still must be worked out, Boeing spokesman Forrest Gossett said.

In the Pacific Northwest, however, workers would receive a $3,000 bonus in each of the first two years of the contract, with the potential of a total of $9,000 in bonuses should they put the money in their investment plan.

They also would receive a 2.5 percent general wage increase in the third year of the contract and the potential of up to 15 days in incentive pay.

Wichita and the Pacific Northwest got different offers because the businesses are different, Gossett said.

"We believe this is a high-quality contract that ensures our employees will remain among the best compensated in the aerospace industry in Wichita," Gossett said.

It gives the Wichita site the "flexibility to remain competitive in what has become a global marketplace," he said.

Wichita workers are unhappy with the differences in offers, said Chuck Younts, a flightline mechanic at Boeing in Wichita.

If Boeing wants to make separate offers, it should let Wichita workers decide in a separate vote, said Younts, a 25-year Boeing employee.

Wichita does not have a large enough unit to sway the decision on the offer one way or the other, he said.

"It's going to come down to our brothers and sisters in the Seattle area deciding our fate," Younts said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, THe Wichita Eagle, Kan.

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Source: The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.)

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