A critical juncture for Boeing and Machinists | Seattle Times

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A critical juncture for Boeing and Machinists

By Dominic Gates
Seattle Times aerospace reporter


MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher, left, greets employee Stan Shepherd
at the Dec. 16 ceremony announcing that the 7E7 would be built in
Everett. Labor peace is essential to the successful launch of the new
airliner.

Wooing a union that once reviled him, Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher has called a July 16 summit with Machinist union leaders from across the country.

Last month in St. Louis, Mo., and Long Beach, Calif., Boeing sealed two pattern-setting blue-collar union contracts. The Chicago gathering presages the bigger Puget Sound negotiations, set for 2005.

The prospect ahead? Crunch time for both Boeing and the International Association of Machinists (IAM) as they face off on two hot national issues: spiraling health-care benefit costs and offshoring of manufacturing work.

Timing is key. With the commercial-aviation industry seeing a tentative recovery, the outcome of Boeing's fierce competition with Airbus now hangs upon the success of the 7E7, which will begin production in 2006. Only about 800 Machinists will work on assembling the new plane. But for the first jet to roll out on time, Boeing needs labor peace in '05.

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