Gregoire, aerospace union chiefs going to Paris Air Show

Leaders of Boeing's two local unions will join a delegation led by Governor Christine Gregoire to the Paris Air Show in June.

The group intends to promote Washington State to Boeing suppliers — and even to Airbus and its suppliers — as a good place for aerospace investment.

Machinists union president Tom Wroblewski and engineering union president Tom McCarty will head their respective teams, aiming to highlight one of the state's key selling points: its experienced aerospace workforce.

Bryan Corliss, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists (IAM), said Wroblewski will tell companies potentially interested in locating here what to expect from a relationship with the union.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about that," said Corliss, adding that the local District 751 last year settled contracts with 22 companies without a strike. He also pointed to the 10-year contract that the IAM signed last year with Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan.

Gov. Gregoire will meet with executives of companies to discuss "expansion plans that may include Washington State and to sell our state," said spokeswoman Karina Shagren.

After Paris, the Governor's delegation will go to Hamburg, Germany, where the State Department of Commerce may arrange a tour of the Airbus fuselage fabrication plant, said Shagren.

"We've been interested in talking to Airbus," said Corliss, who will travel to Hamburg with Gregoire while Wroblewski stays longer in Paris to attend an international labor conference.

Stan Sorscher, a research analyst with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), who is on the team going to the Air Show, said Washington can appeal to aerospace companies with "high productivity, low risk and an experienced technical workforce."

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