Machinists Union leader rips up ‘piece of crap’ Boeing contract
Nov 8, 2013, 5:09 AM | Updated: 2:05 pm
The head of the local machinists union that brokered the deal with Boeing to secure the 777X now calls the contract a “piece of crap” and has torn it up.
Facing intense anger from his members over this proposed eight year deal, local machinists president Tom Wroblewski ripped up the contract he just cut with Boeing at the end of a vocal meeting Thursday night in South Park.
Union members have been making it quite clear that they do not like the changes in pension and healthcare contained in this proposed eight-year deal. Some have even been protesting the contract inside the Boeing plant in Everett.
“He finally got it,” one machinist told KING 5 after the meeting. “He finally got the cojones to step up for the members.”
Wroblewski is now trying to see if he can cancel next Wednesday’s contract vote.
Boeing released a statement after the union meeting:
All of our options are still on the table, including those within Boeing and other interest we have received from outside.
We chose to engage in Puget Sound first, but without full acceptance by the union and legislature, we will be left with no choice but to open up the process competitively and pursue other options for locating 777X work. If this is not ratified per the scheduled union vote on November 13th, we will begin taking the next steps.
Puget Sound aviation analyst Scott Hamilton has been watching Boeing for nearly 30 years. He said he’s never seen anything like this. “I see open warfare emerging from this if turns out that way,” he said of a breakdown in this deal.
National aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia said this shows a real lack of leadership in the union if it would work out a deal that is so universally hated by its members.
“If you’d asked me yesterday ‘What are the odds of Boeing leaving Puget Sound with 777X?’ I would have said ‘Slim to none,'” Aboulafia said. “The reaction that we’ve seen over the last few hours really kind of changes my perception and definitely heightens the risk that Boeing will pick up stakes and go.”
