Boeing

Boeing and the bargaining committee for District Lodge 837 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAMAW, reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract early today in St. Louis.

Members of the union are scheduled to vote on the proposal at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

"The tentative agreement addresses each of the areas that the IAMAW has indicated are most important to its members: general wage increases, signing bonuses, job security and retirement benefits. At the same time, it would help keep the Boeing St. Louis team competitive for the business we have now - and for business we are pursuing," noted John Van Gels, vice president and St. Louis site manager for Military Aircraft and Missile Systems.

"We support the bargaining committee in its efforts to make sure that every local IAMAW member reads the proposal, understands it and votes on it," Van Gels said.

The proposed contract:

• provides for an advance payment of $1,200 to each active Boeing St. Louis employee who is a member of the IAMAW, payable shortly after contract ratification.
• increases wages on average to more than $25 an hour from $22 an hour. On a percentage basis, wages will increase on average 9.8 percent in the first year of the contract, 5.8 percent in the second year and 5.3 percent in the third year. These increases result from a combination of general wage increases across the board — of 3 percent in the first year and 4 percent in the second and third years of the contract, plus an advance payment in year one, improved automatic salary progressions or one-time $500 lump sums for workers at the top of labor grade classifications, and quarterly cost-of-living adjustments.
• prohibits layoffs from subcontracting or as a result of productivity improvements gained through labor grades.
• provides an additional one-time payment of $3,000 to retirement-eligible IAMAW members who elect to retire in the near term.
• increases pensions by 22 percent — to $50 a month for every year of service. In addition, supplements give long-service employees an additional $550 a month during retirement up to age 62.

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