Boeing 777x Construction(LABOR) Update: Aircraft to be Built in Washington: Union's vote brings abrupt halt to Alabama's efforts to land Boeing 777X

The 777X will apparently stay in Washington state.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers narrowly approved Boeing's contract offer Friday night on a 51 percent to 49 percent vote, guaranteeing work on the next-generation jetliner will stay in Washington state. The vote puts an end to two months of speculation over a possible new home for the 777X. Machinist union members and leaders rejected two previous contract offers before its national office called for a third vote. The previous rejections led Boeing to announce a search for a new home for the 777X and Alabama was among the states throwing its hat in the ring for the $10 billion facility.


Boeing owns about 300 acres at the Huntsville International Airport and Alabama officials hoped the aerospace company would bring the plant and as many as 8,500 jobs to North Alabama.

Boeing issued the following statement Friday night:

"If the contract is ratified, the 777X will be built in the Puget Sound area by Boeing employees represented by the IAM. This work includes fuselage build, final assembly and major components fabrication such as interiors and wires.

The work also includes the composite wing fabrication and assembly. There is no other composite wing production facility in the U.S. today. Current mechanics will have the opportunity to be trained for this new composite work, which could set the stage for the next generation of manufacturing innovation in the Puget Sound region.

In addition, Boeing commits to fabricate and assemble the 737 MAX in the Puget Sound and KC-46 Tanker and P-8 production work in Puget Sound and Portland through 2024."

The contract approved by union members includes future bonuses of $15,000 and a shift from a traditional pension plan to a 401(k) type system.

"Our members have spoken and this is the course we'll take," said Tom Wroblewski, the president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751.

"All along we knew that our members wanted to build that 777X, and that it was in Boeing's best interest to have them do it," he said. "Now it's up to all of us to pull together to make this airplane program successful. I'm confident we will do that, because as we've said all along, this is the most-skilled aerospace workforce in the world."

Alabama may have lost out on the 777X but it will still gain from its production. Some engineering work for the jetliner is being moved to Huntsville and the company announced it would open a new engineering center at its offices at Redstone Gateway. That engineering center will employ 400 workers.

Source: blog.al.com