Contrary to rumors that have been circulating among Boeing machinists in Washington state, there's been no new contract offer from the company, according to Tom Wroblewski, president of Local 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Wroblewski, in a post published on the local's website, wrote he's had routine meetings with his counterparts at the company, but hasn't been involved in any talks that would lead to a new offer. He said he has also met with Gov. Jay Inslee and other elected officials.
"The politicians want to preserve jobs in Washington, and they want us to keep talking with Boeing. I’ve told them that’s what you want, too, but any further conversations with Boeing must be based on the idea that we’re building on the contract we have today, not tearing down decades of progress," Wroblewski wrote.
Earlier this month, Boeing machinists rejected an eight-year contract extension offer from the company that would have guaranteed assembly of the next version of the 777 wide-body jet in Washington state, as well as its state-of-the-art carbon-fiber wing. The company had asked the 31,000 machinists to accept higher health insurance costs, slower wage increases and a pension freeze. Boeing offered bigger matches to its defined-contribution retirement plan and a $10,000 signing bonus.
Now Boeing is soliciting bids from more than a dozen states as it weighs where to build the 777. Inslee has said Washington state is competing as well and that he hopes to persuade the state's biggest private-sector employer that Washington is the best spot to build the plane.
