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Boeing Talks With Union Break Off

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The Associated Press

Published: September 6, 2008

SEATTLE - Despite a 48-hour contract extension, negotiations between Boeing Co. and Machinists union officials failed Friday, and the union said a strike was set to begin at 3 a.m. today. When the talks broke off, the union sent a message to members saying: "The strike is on!"

The company said it would not try to assemble planes during the strike.

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company is open to further discussion, but both sides were too far apart to reach agreement. He added no additional talks were scheduled.

The Machinists bargain for about 25,000 aircraft assembly workers in the Puget Sound area and about 2,000 more in Wichita, Kan., and Portland, Ore.

Union members on Wednesday voted 80 percent to reject Boeing's final three-year contract offer and 87 percent to go on strike, mainly over job security. Both sides agreed to the extension at the request of Gov. Chris Gregoire and federal mediators.

Tom Wroblewski, president of Machinists District Lodge 751, said Boeing had "disrespected the finest aerospace workers anywhere on the planet" by failing to meet machinists' expectations.

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