Officials in Washington trying to lure Boeing, machinists back to the table
Dec 4, 2013, 5:18 AM | Updated: 10:39 am
Washington lost its chance to guarantee that Boeing’s 777X would be built in this state when union Machinists refused to accept a new eight-year contract.
With the dust now settled from the union vote last month and the reality that Boeing is looking at other states sinking in, aviation insiders and local politicians are working behind-the-scenes to get Boeing and the union back together.
“We met the last few days, myself, the mayor and we’re meeting with other mayors,” Snohomish County Executive John Lovick told KIRO Radio. “We are going to do everything we can to try and bring the Machinists and Boeing back to the table.”
The Machinists say they’re interested, but Boeing has said it will not talk new deals with the Machinists again, until the current contract runs out in 2016.
Lovick is hopeful that if given a second chance, the Machinists would take the contract offer Boeing presented.
“We’re going to try and get them to reconsider that there maybe were some things there that might not have been the best thing for them, but it would have been the best thing for all of Washington state.”
The rejected contract would have ensured thousands of jobs at the Everett plant for several decades.
Boeing has given 777X bidders until next week to submit their proposals. The company said it will make a decision on where to build the plane early next year.
