Benefits June 28, 2010

Boeing Machinists Accept Move to Put New Workers in 401(k)

June 28, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Boeing Co. machinists at a St. Louis fighter-jet plant have accepted a proposed contract that will put new workers into a 401(k) plan.
Reported by

Bloomberg reports that the contract leaves in a place a Boeing proposal to put workers hired after January 2012 into a 401(k) plan rather than a defined benefit plan, but the company removed language that would have dropped dependents’ medical coverage if an employee was on medical leave for more than six months. The agreement calls for a 3% wage increase in the second through fifth years, said Tom Pinski, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district 837, according to Bloomberg.  

“I’m not sure they were voting in favor of the 401(k) plan, they were voting that Boeing would be adamant enough and harsh enough that even if they went on strike they still would not be able to retain a defined pension plan,” Pinski said.

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