Boeing machinists to vote on crucial 777X contract

Some 31,000 Boeing machinists vote on Friday on a crucial labor contract that affects the location of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity.

Fox News reports that if the workers accept the deal, Boeing Co. would build its 777X jetliner and wings in the Seattle area. Twenty-two states have submitted incentive bids for the 777X, including Missouri.

If the union workers reject the contract, Boeing could take production elsewhere.

The vote has opened deep rifts between the local International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which opposes the contract, and its Washington leadership, which forced a vote on the proposal. In November, machinists voted against a plan that would have replaced their traditional defined-benefit pensions with 401(k)-style savings plans. Now, Boeing has sweetened the deal by offering a larger signing bonus and other changes. But the pension change remains, Fox News reports.

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