Boeing Co machinists who staged a 29-day strike in 2005, elected Thomas Wroblewski as District 751 president on Saturday to lead contract negotiations with the plane maker, which has a record US$174 billion in orders.

 

According to Bloomberg News, the Seattle-based District of the International Association of Machinists, Boeing's largest, representing about 21,000 workers, voted 2,914 in favor of Wroblewski. Clifton Wyatt was second with 2,346 votes. The union represents workers in the Puget Sound region of Washington, in Portland, Oregon, and in Wichita, Kansas.

 

Chief Executive Officer James McNerney needs labor peace to avoid threatening the delivery of 2,046 airliners ordered over the past two years and to keep the Chicago-based company's new 787 Dreamliner on schedule. The strike two years ago cost the world's second-largest commercial aircraft company US$2 billion.

 

"I want to unite the membership to ensure we have a strong bargaining position for the upcoming negotiations and hope to get more members involved in our union. Working together, we will continue to have the best contracts in the aerospace industry," Wroblewski said in a statement to union members.

 

Wroblewski, 52, replaces Mark Blondin, 49, who led the earlier walkout. Wroblewski joined Boeing in 1976 and has been with the union for more than 30 years, the last 14 as a business representative and grievance coordinator.

 

Both campaigned on platforms with retirement, health benefits and wage increases as top priorities. The negotiations are to begin in August 2008.

 

(Shanghai Daily March 20, 2007)