|
 In a letter to employees, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief
Executive Ray Conner said the company received proposals for 54
sites from 22 states, and aimed to cut the list down to a few top
picks this week.
Boeing opened the competition to all-comers last month after
machinist workers in Washington, who currently build 777 planes,
rejected a contract offer.
Conner did not say whether Washington state would be on the short
list, and Boeing declined further comment.
Conner's remarks appeared to harden the standoff after union leaders
last week rejected a contract offer that would have eliminated
pensions and said Boeing had withdrawn the offer.
The union, the International Association of Machinists District 751,
said Boeing wanted its leaders to unanimously endorse the new
contract offer and sell it on the shop floor.
"Our guys said, 'No, we can't do that,'" District spokesman Bryan
Corliss said on Tuesday.
Corliss said Boeing withdrew the offer after union leaders declined
to endorse it.
Conner acknowledged asking union leaders to support the offer and
put it to a vote. But he said they rejected it "plain and simple,
and we now have to turn and face the reality of the union
leadership's final decision."
The location of the new jet is a key concern. Boeing's 777X will be
a derivative of its top-selling wide-body plane, with new wings and
engines, due out in 2020. Along with Boeing's narrow-body 737 MAX
jet due in 2017, it is expected to be Boeing's only new jetliner
program for the next 15 years. If it goes to another state, it could
mark the beginning of a long winding down of aerospace work in
Washington state.
[to top of second column] |
Many analysts say Washington offers the lowest risk and costs
because Boeing already builds the 777 there, giving it ready access
to a trained work force and state incentives that include low-cost
land, easy permitting and $8.7 billion in tax incentives passed by
lawmakers last month.
Because of the high stakes for the state's major industry, IAM
District 751 President Tom Wroblewski is under pressure from elected
leaders to put the second offer to a vote.
A group of union members plan a rally on Wednesday near the Everett,
Washington, plant where the current 777 is built to show support for
a vote on the latest offer.
With just under 31,000 members, however, the rally would need to
draw a sizeable crowd to show the IAM that members really want to
consider the deal.
(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; editing by
Andrew Hay)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
