Machinists Union at Boeing Says It Will Strike
September 6th, 2008
The union that represents machinists at the Boeing Company said on Friday that it would go on strike early Saturday, potentially delaying the production of an important new aircraft, the Dreamliner.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers told 27,000 Boeing employees in an e-mail message on Friday afternoon that “the strike is on.” It said the strike would begin at 3:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, though a last-minute agreement could conceivably be reached.
The decision came after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new three-year contract during negotiations in Orlando, Fla., that were supervised by a federal mediator.
The talks moved to Orlando, where the union was holding a national conference, from Seattle, the home of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and many of the company’s production sites. The union agreed to extend its contract for 48 hours late Wednesday, even though workers had voted overwhelmingly against Boeing’s offer and in favor of a strike.
In a statement, Boeing said that its plants would remain open and that workers not represented by the machinists’ union would be expected to report for work. But it said it would not assemble planes during the strike.
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