Boeing, Machinists talk in last-ditch effort to avert strike

Union leaders and Boeing executives spent the first 15 hours of a 48-hour cooling-off period to avert a strike just getting to the negotiating table in Orlando, Fla.

After a dramatic, angry union vote and meeting Wednesday in Seattle, Mark Blondin and Tom Wroblewski, leaders of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), arrived Thursday evening for the latest negotiations at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort hotel.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Scott Carson and his top labor negotiator, Doug Kight, arrived earlier in the day.

IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger was already at the venue for the union's Grand Lodge convention, which starts Sunday. He will join the talks.

Wednesday evening — before Machinist votes on whether to strike were counted — the two sides agreed through a mediator on this last-minute bargaining step, with the understanding Boeing would improve its offer in the face of a pending strike.

Still, many Machinists held out little hope Thursday that the crisis talks would succeed.

Blondin and Wroblewski reached the hotel about 6 p.m. Florida time, with the clock already ticking.

Behind them, in Boeing factories around Puget Sound, the union leaders left a stunned work force, with many of the 26,000 Machinists angry at them for agreeing to step back from the brink.

As Blondin and Wroblewski left the stage at the Seattle union hall Wednesday night, the two were roundly cursed and shouted at by IAM members vehemently opposed to any delay in a strike, which was to have begun hours later at midnight.

Feelings ran high afterward, too. Machinists from the Everett plant headed north after the Seattle vote count and gathered about 11 p.m. at the Everett union hall, joined by those coming off second shift.

One member described the scene as filled with raucous arguments that came close to fights. The hottest heads left angrily, declaring their dissent from the leaders' decision.

When the union member left in the wee hours of the morning, he stepped past a few blue union T-shirts and one shop steward's jacket, taken off and flung to the ground in disgust.

At the Seattle hall Thursday morning, receptionists fielded angry calls. Union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher defended the decision as a responsible step, with only a minor delay in strike action if it doesn't work.

"It was a tough decision, given the feelings of our members," said Kelliher, "But it was the right thing to do."

The two sides will try to reach an agreement union leaders can recommend to members.

With Wednesday's vote showing an 80 percent rejection of the proposed contract, Boeing knows it needs a deal that the union leadership will recommend.

If the talks fail, a strike starts at midnight.

If they succeed, the current contract must be extended again to allow time for a vote on the revised contract.

A simple majority would be required to ratify the contract. Without that, workers will walk out, having already voted to strike by more than the required two-thirds majority.

The two sides arrived in Florida under the guidance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), a government agency charged with helping to resolve labor disputes.

Both Boeing and the union have been talking to the agency for weeks.

Ron Judd, a senior adviser to Gov. Christine Gregoire who has a labor background, said FMCS typically assigns a mediator anytime it becomes aware of a pending impasse.

For the Boeing talks, the agency assigned Andy Hall, an attorney and mediator in its Seattle office.

"He's the one working and doing diplomacy the last couple of months," Judd said.

Gregoire also had informal phone conversations with both sides — with Carson and Kight for Boeing; with Blondin and Wroblewski for the IAM — a couple of times in the past week.

She didn't discuss bargaining details but laid out the high stakes for both sides, asked them to avoid a strike if they could and encouraged compromise.

According to a person familiar with Wednesday's events, union leaders and Boeing had been in touch via Hall early in the evening and had discussed options if the vote produced a strike.

Boeing had drawn a clear line publicly that it wouldn't alter its final contract offer until Machinists voted on it. But if members rejected the deal and voted to strike, a new phase of negotiations would start.

Through Hall's mediation, the two sides reached an understanding that a contingency would be to travel to Orlando so that Buffenbarger could be involved in last-ditch talks.

The surreal choice of venue — the receptionists at the Disney resort finish any phone conversation with "Have a magic day" — was dictated by the availability of Buffenbarger, who would have to sign off on any deal. He had to be at the hotel for preliminary meetings related to the IAM convention.

About 9 p.m. Wednesday, the vote count was complete and Blondin called Kight to tell him the outcome. The overwhelming rejection meant a strike loomed at midnight.

Through Hall again, Boeing indicated it was ready to make some moves, prompting Blondin and Wroblewski to suspend the strike for 48 hours.

After the chaos at the union hall Wednesday night, Machinists unexpectedly had to go to work Thursday.

Not all did. Reports from the factories suggested a high rate of absenteeism and plants that were much quieter than usual. Boeing declined to comment on absenteeism or production rates.

On the surface, the chances of success in Florida seem small.

The union has a litany of issues with the previous contract proposal, including compensation, structure of the wage ladder, medical benefits, and clauses that permit outsourcing.

Boeing wants the union to narrow its demands to a "few critical areas."

"If they continue to ask for everything, the chances of a deal seem slim," said Boeing spokesman Tim Healy.

A Machinist at the Seattle headquarters was dubious, too.

"I don't see how they can do it in 48 hours," he said. "This could turn real ugly."

Yet Buffenbarger said in a phone interview that the dispute could still be resolved.

"Boeing knows what it takes to reach an agreement. The union knows what it takes. It's making it work," said Buffenbarger. "It only takes an hour to reach an agreement."

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com