Officers of the International Association of Machinists yesterday urged the 25,000 IAM members employed at the Oregon, Kansas and Washington state production facilities of world?s largest plane manufacturer Boeing to reject management?s ?final? contract offer. Although the proposal includes a twenty percent increase in pension benefits that is eight percent higher than the company?s initial offer on pensions, it falls far short of the 100 percent increase sought by the union whose membership averages forty-six years of age and is more concerned with pensions and job security than raises (see WIT for Aug. 22, 2002). Members of the historically tenacious union will vote tomorrow on whether to accept the proposal which also includes a signing bonus but does not offer the production-level based job security provisions that the union is fighting for, and would raise annual health insurance premiums for some members by $10,000.
See PETER ROBISON, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2002