Job security, pensions top issues as Boeing talks begin Tuesday

SEATTLE -- When the International Association of Machinists District 751 begins negotiations with Boeing Co. on Tuesday, it will square off against more than just the world's largest aerospace company.

Because of a shaky economy in a post-Sept. 11 world, machinists are facing a tough battle in securing their two top goals: job security and better pensions.

Both sides said they are optimistic about reaching an agreement before the current contract expires Sept. 1, and avoiding a strike -- as occurred in two of their last four contract negotiations.

But a strike remains a possibility, they said, acknowledging that forging a contract that bridges the economic and employment concerns on both sides will be a tough challenge.

"We are entering these negotiations really trying to find balance between the interests of the union, the interests of our employees, our owners and all of our stakeholders," said Jerry Calhoun, vice president for human relations and union relations for Chicago-based Boeing.

"That's very complex. It doesn't take much to misstep," he added.

The machinists' biggest concerns in talks this year are boosting job security and pensions -- issues that reflect the current state of the union's membership where the average age is 47 and where layoffs since Sept. 11 have sliced the membership by more than a quarter.

"We're very, very unified behind those top issues," said Mark Blondin, president of IAM District 751, which now represents 20,000 members in the Puget Sound region. The contract also covers an additional 6,000 workers in Wichita, Kan., and Portland, Ore.

Union members who grew up in the company are worried their jobs will be next to be cut, Blondin said. Since September, Boeing has cut its production rate in half and given pink slips to 28,300 workers across the company.

And the union believes Boeing is already violating a job security provision from the 1999 contract. Now under federal arbitration, the dispute focuses on Boeing's sending work to outside contractors and then laying off members of its own work force. Boeing maintains that it is abiding by the contract.

Meanwhile, union members worry that once they leave, their pensions -- now $50 a month per year of service -- will prove too meager to help sustain their quality of life, Blondin said, and the union is seeking to double that figure.