Boeing machinists voting on contract tied to 777X
Source: AP-Excite
By MIKE BAKER
SEATTLE (AP) - Boeing machinists will decide Friday whether to accept a contract that would concede some pension and health care benefits in order to secure assembly of the company's new 777X airplane in Washington state.
The offer has fractured the union and drawn unusual pleas from politicians who say the deal is necessary to support the Puget Sound region's economic future. Boeing has been exploring the prospect of building the 777X elsewhere, a move that could trigger a steady exodus of aerospace jobs from a region where Boeing was founded.
Local union officials, meanwhile, are urging their 30,000 members to oppose the deal, arguing that the proposal surrenders too much at a time of company profitability. They have opposed taking a vote at all but were overruled by national leaders in the Machinists union.
Voting was scheduled for 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. Results are expected to be announced later in the night.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140103/DAB3FJ682.html
Machinists union members and supporters cheer at a rally asking members to vote against a proposed contract Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, in Seattle. National leaders at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers recently announced a vote on Boeing's proposal despite the objections of local union leaders who had rejected the offer. The local leaders are recommending that members vote "no," in Friday's vote despite Boeing's threat that work on its new 777X airplane will go elsewhere if workers don't take the deal. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
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