Machinists authorize a strike

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.kansas.com/107/story/466561.html

Posted on Fri, Jul. 18, 2008

BY JAMES WALLACE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

SEATTLE - Thousands of Boeing Machinists have authorized their union to strike if a new labor contract can't be reached.

They are demanding a much bigger share of Boeing Co.' s success of the past three years -- and they are prepared to walk in September and shut down Boeing's jetliner production if they don't get it.

The union has 27,000 members, including about 800 at Boeing's plant in Wichita.

Ninety-nine percent of the Machinists voted Wednesday night to grant the union's negotiating committee strike sanction authority, according to the union. The current three-year contract ends at midnight Sept. 4.

The vote does not mean there will be a strike. The membership will get a chance to vote on the final contract, and even then a strike would need a 66 percent majority from those voting on the contract.

Boeing and the Machinists union opened negotiations May 9 on the new labor accord, with the union saying it wants its members to have a bigger share of the company's profits, which have soared along with Boeing's jetliner backlog.

FULL story at link.