Boeing firefighters reject latest contract offer – KIRO 7 News Seattle

RENTON, Wash. — Boeing firefighters overwhelmingly rejected the company’s latest contract offer Wednesday, according to the IAFF Local I-66 union.

“This round of negotiations resulted in Boeing presenting its second ‘best final offer,’ a contradiction in terms and a clear sign of the corporate giant’s complete lack of respect for our members,” said the General Chairman. of the AIP, Edward A. Kelly.

In a statement sent to KIRO 7 Wednesday evening, Boeing said:

“It is regrettable that union leadership continues to negotiate in bad faith. The union previously accepted and approved our strong offer, which includes an average increase of $21,000 in take-home pay and additional salary increases. Our emergency plan remains in place and ensures we can provide the same levels of safety and emergency response with highly trained firefighters indefinitely.

125 union firefighters and emergency medical workers have been locked out of Boeing facilities in our region since May 4 after Boeing said the union refused to vote on their former leader.

Since then, firefighters have been on strike.

In the meantime, Boeing has an emergency plan in place that relies on municipal fire departments.

Boeing presented the union with a modified contract offer Monday.

The union’s main issues revolve around wages. Wages up to 30 percent lower than those of neighboring municipal services according to the union. And that it takes 14 years for a firefighter to reach the highest salary.

The union says it also becomes a safety issue, as those with higher qualifications often leave for higher pay.

Boeing says the latest modified offer would have raised the average firefighter salary from $91,000 to $112,000 in the first year of the contract, with additional pay increases in the remaining years.

The union says the offer would have only reduced the number of years needed to earn the top salary by just one year.