Boeing talks reach impasse

USA: The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers agreed on August 29 to a request by the Federal Mediation Service for a 30-day contract extension at Boeing and for a resumption of bargaining on September 4. The response by the company, however, has been to hold firm on its "last, best and final" contract offer - which the union calls "a continued attack... on the jobs, incomes and living standards of the IAM workforce" - and has refused the request by the federal authority to resume talks with the IAM. Bargaining for the new three-year contract, to cover over 25,000 IAM members building airplanes for Boeing, got to its official start on June 25, with full-time negotiations running since August 15. The key issues for the union have been job security, pensions and health care. "Boeing has eliminated more than one-third of the IAM membership's jobs since the 1999 contract, yet Boeing's after-tax profits have gone up 152 per cent and sales have gone up 27 per cent during that same period," said IAM chief negotiator Dick Schneider. Bargaining talks concluded on August 27, and the present collective contract expired today, September 2, at 12:01 a.m. Affiliated at international level to the IMF, the IAM is the largest airline union in North America, representing 140,000 airline employees. Boeing is the largest U.S. export manufacturer.