Boeing Honors Everett 787 Machinists for Quality, Innovation

A group of 30 Machinists Union members who build 787s in Everett have been honored by the Boeing Co. with a new companywide award for outstanding quality and innovation.

The team – which calls itself The Incredible B-Deck Bombers – was presented with Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ first-ever Excellence in Quality Award.

Tom Wroblewski, the president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 in Seattle, praised the work of the Everett Machinists and congratulated them on the award.

“District 751 has always said that Boeing’s best workers are here in Puget Sound,” he said. “Now, it seems, Boeing agrees.”

The award honored a series of ideas the team developed and implemented to prevent accidental damage that could literally have cost Boeing millions of dollars.

The ideas have been implemented throughout Boeing’s main 787 line in Everett, and managers in South Carolina have been inquiring into how they can adopt the techniques created by Boeing’s union workers to improve performance at the Charleston plant as well, the Machinists said.

More information about the Incredible B-Deck Bombers and their quality innovations is available in this month’s edition of the AeroMechanic newsletter, which is now available online.

Along with a crystal clear trophy, the team got custom jackets, a congratulatory visit from Boeing CEO Jim McNerney and lunch catered by the chefs at Boeing’s executive lunchroom.

The lunch “wasn’t your standard pizza, you know?” quipped Dan Vacchio, one of the Machinists on the team.

Also in this month’s AeroMechanic, you can read:

• How recent federal wage data shows that union workers earn on average $10,868 a year more than non-union workers;
• A report on how the contract extension with Boeing has resulted in Machinists Union members getting an extra $2,000-per-person dental benefit in 2012;
• Reports on how District 751 and Boeing are teaming up to bolster workforce training in Washington, through new K-12 programs in public schools, and through combined support of the statewide Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee‘s new Mobile Training Unit;
• A story about how District 751 members joined other Boeing employees and China Southern Airlines to celebrate the delivery of the 4,000th Next-Generation 737;
• An update on contract talks at Hytek Finishes, and a report on the start of talks for 350 workers at URS Corp. at Joint Base Lewis-McChord;
• A roundup of union community service efforts – including the upcoming charity poker tournament, fun run and motorcycle event — and a look ahead at MayWorks, a series of events celebrating the labor movement’s contributions to life in America. 

Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at Boeing, District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents more than 31,500 working men and women at 48 employers across Washington, Oregon and California. In December, District 751 members ratified a four-year contract extension with Boeing that ensured the 737 MAX will be built in Puget Sound.

To learn more about District 751, read the Machinists News.