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Union machinists held talks with Boeing on 777X

[December 11, 2013]  (Reuters) — Leaders from Boeing Co and its Seattle-area machinists union met on Wednesday about restarting talks that could lead to building Boeing's new 777X jetliner in Washington state, where the current 777 is built.

The meeting marked the second consecutive day of talks aimed at restarting negotiations that broke off after the union rejected a labor contract offered by Boeing last month. It comes as more than a dozen states were submitting proposals for Boeing to put the new factory in their states.

The meetings included Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Ray Conner and International Association of Machinists District 751 President Tom Wroblewski, Boeing and the union said.

"Our membership wants to build this airplane," said union spokesman Bryan Corliss. "We believe Boeing wants to build it here too."

Neither session involved formal labor negotiations and no proposals were exchanged.

Tuesday was the deadline for proposals from competing states, which would take the work away from the machinists in the Seattle area.

"As we've said from the beginning of the 777X site selection process, we continue to look at all of our options," Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said. "As we start evaluating the proposals, we'll engage with all interested parties."

Shares of Boeing ended down 0.9 percent at $132.56 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Dan Grebler)

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