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<< Previous   of   Next >> The Herald / Michael O'Leary  (click to enlarge) Boeing Machinists Don Grinde (right) and Dwight Noren started walking an unsanctioned picket line at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Grinde was getting support from passing employees entering the plant for work.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, September 5, 2008 Machinists itching to strike Clock ticking for Boeing-Machinists contract By Michelle Dunlop Herald Writer EVERETT -- The Boeing Co., with the help of a mediator, has less than 24 hours to either appease its Machinists union or watch roughly 27,000 workers put down the tools and walk out of its aircraft factories. Some Machinists launched an early work stoppage on Thursday, just hours after union leaders agreed to give Boeing a 48-hour reprieve from a strike and said they would not talk to the media during that period. Boeing Machinist Dwight Noren hit the unsanctioned picket line around 6 a.m. Thursday outside Boeing's aircraft factory in Everett. After 21 years with the company, Noren wasn't worried about missing a few days. "We had a contract with the Boeing Co.. It expired at 12:01," he said. The decision to delay a walkout didn't sit well with several union members, including Noren, given that 87 percent of Machinists voted in favor of a strike. But on Thursday, after months of talks, leaders for Boeing and the Machinists were back at the bargaining table with a tight deadline and a tough task: reach a contract that makes sense to both sides. Negotiators for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were sympathetic to members who didn't agree with their decision to continue talks with Boeing but firm in their decision to do so. "The responsible decision is to meet with Boeing and see if they are now serious about meeting your demands," wrote Tom Wroblewski, district president, in message to union members. "We will not sell you out. If Boeing does not produce the offer you expect, the strike is still on," Wroblewski continued. Union leaders have said Boeing's final offer for a new three-year contract fell short of Machinists' expectations on health insurance, wages, paid time off and job security. Boeing called its offer the best in the industry, promising 11 percent wage increases; $2,500 signing bonuses; and first-year, lump-sum payments of at least $2,500. The payments will average $3,900. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, who requested the 48-hour extension, spoke at an economic and work force development conference in Lynnwood on Thursday. In an interview, the governor said she had been monitoring negotiations all along but said she has been "very involved in the last four or five days." "I saw them bargaining in good faith and they were close, but time ran out," Gregoire said. That is why she asked both sides to agree to two more days of talks, she said, noting that the same thing was tried during union talks in the 1980s. "There's an opportunity here to avoid a strike. And if we can avoid a strike, it's good for the workers, good for Boeing and, ultimately, it's good for the state." But Machinists such as Noren don't see the point. Instead, Noren believes he was misled by Boeing and the union. That's why he defied company and union suggestions to report to work and joined Machinist Don Grinde on the picket line. Grinde grabbed a picket just after midnight. "We have been jerked around by Boeing for months," Grinde said. Grinde said that although Boeing offered bonuses and lump sum payments, the company hid "takeaways." Boeing, Grinde said, showed the world a lovely apple pie of a contract. In reality, he said, that pie was filled with holes and worms. "They robbed Peter to pay Paul all the way through the contract," he said. At a press conference Wednesday night, Boeing's lead negotiator Doug Kight noted the contract included many "tough" and "emotional" issues, such as pension and outsourcing. He said it was important for Boeing to listen to the union. "The time is now to hear what the specific issues are," Kight said. After listening to the union's priorities, Boeing will decide its next steps -- whether it can meet the union's demands while remaining competitive. Union leaders and members alike believe the Machinists are in a good position. Machinist Mark Meidinger, a 20-year Boeing employee, pointed to members' daily rallies and 80 percent rejection rate of the contract. "We scared them," Meidinger said. Machinists negotiators tried to reassure members in an update on the union's Web site Thursday. "No matter how the company tries to spin it, they blinked," they wrote. Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.

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