Boeing

Representatives of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) District 19 have indicated to company officials that they will issue a complaint tomorrow in the matter of the implementation of certain new job classifications that support the Define and Control Airplane Configuration / Manufacturing Resource Management (DCAC/MRM) initiative. Specifically, the complaint will allege that the company has unlawfully assigned duties performed by expediters, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM&AW), to salaried Material Planners. The company unequivocally denies the charge.

The issuance of a complaint means the NLRB considers the issues in this case to be complicated enough to demand that a hearing be held to review the evidence.

"We welcome the opportunity to resolve the misunderstandings that led to the filing of charges by the IAM&AW," said Tom Schick, executive vice president and deputy to the President of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. "The fact is that DCAC/MRM identified an area where hourly and salaried employees were performing redundant duties, duties historically performed by salaried workers. Our process improvements simply allowed us to eliminate that overlap."

The hearing will give Boeing the opportunity to prove that by implementing those process improvements and job changes Boeing is not violating the law, not violating the labor agreement with the IAM&AW, and not, as the IAM&AW contends, transferring hourly work to salaried employees.

"The core expediter functions, including the physical movement of parts to facilitate the production process, have been and continue to be performed by hourly employees. No one has been forced out of the bargaining unit. At the same time, employees who want to apply for any of the new positions are given an opportunity to do so," Schick said.