Boeing, union ink new contract
By By William F. West / community editor
March 4, 2003
Boeing Co. and union workers have agreed to a three-year contract to continue maintaining a fleet of training aircraft at Naval Air Station Meridian but a union representative said Monday that local workers remain unhappy.
The Chicago-based aviation company and the Maryland-based union agreed on a contract renewal over the weekend. A similar agreement was also reached by the company and workers at NAS Kingsville, Texas.
At NAS Meridian, 270 union workers are under contract with Boeing to maintain a fleet of T-45s of which there are 75, with more new aircraft expected soon.
Wood said points of contention included a machinists union pension plan to be administered by both Boeing and the union and which would pay much more than most pension plans.
He said the workers did get a cap on insurance costs "but there were a number of things that they wanted that the company wouldn't give."
Paul Guse, a Boeing spokesman, said the agreement was reached after weeks of negotiations.
Talk of a possible strike was circulating at NAS Meridian late last week.
Asked about the rumblings of a walkout, Guse said: "Certainly the goal of negotiations is to come to a successful agreement on the terms of a contract and that happened in this case."
Wood said that on a scale of one to 10, the possibility of a strike reached about an eight.
Wood said the negotiations took place at Corpus Christi and that he believes the workers at NAS Kingsville fared a little better in their talks.
Wood said workers are concerned about NAS Meridian facing a possible closure or realignment and also said another concern is that Boeing's contract is up for bid in October.
But Wood said the workers at NAS Meridian will maintain high standards.
Boeing is only one of the companies with operations at NAS Meridian.
Another, Sikorsky Support Services Inc., maintains 67 older T-2C training jets. Wood said 130 union workers are under contract with Sikorsky and smaller support companies on base.
