The Briefing Room
General Category => Economy/Business => Topic started by: Cincinnatus on December 13, 2013, 06:54:15 am
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Boeing Co. said the machinists union in Washington has rejected a “best and final” contract proposal that would ensure the aerospace giant would build its next-generation 777X airliner in the state.
The announcement came after the third day of meetings between Boeing and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751. The talks were the first between the two sides since the union overwhelmingly voted to reject a eight-year contract extension last month.
Since then, Boeing has opened a nationwide sweepstakes asking other states to submit incentive-laden proposals. The company said it received proposals from 22 states, many of which submitted multiple sites for consideration.
Washington is still in the running to build the twin-aisle jet, but it’s unclear whether Boeing will move forward without a deal with the machinists union. It represents more than 31,000 Boeing workers.
"We entered these discussions to address the concerns we were hearing from our employees," Ray Conner, chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes, said in a statement. "We've listened to the union leadership and had an open dialogue in hopes of moving toward each other. Unfortunately the offer, which would have ensured this great airplane for the Puget Sound region, was immediately rejected by the union leadership."
The machinists union did not immediately comment.
Moving the assembly line out of the region would be staggering to the Seattle area, where Boeing was founded in 1916.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-boeing-777x-union-20131212,0,6898494.story#axzz2nKb8msga
The Democrats who control this state have done everything they can think of to get Boeing to build that plane here. But they have running into the recalcitrance of their political ally, the International Association of Machinists, a militant union which in the past has shown no qualms about destroying their host companies if they don't get their way in all things. This may not end well for the Seattle area.
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The original 777 will be coming to an end once the 777x is fully launched. Once that happens, the only wide body production left in Everett will be the 747 (for who knows how long) and the 787 which Boeing will likely fully move to South Carolina. Other than the 737 at Renton, which the unions did approve a contract for, Boeing might just completely ditch that liberal hellhole.