Wrowblewski: 787 workers make us all proud

EVERETT — Tom Wroblewski, the president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751, issued the following statement after All Nippon Airways took delivery of the first Boeing 787 Monday:

“I cannot praise our members enough for their work on the 787 program, in Everett, in Auburn and in Fredrickson.

“You will never get enough credit for the work you have done. But I firmly believe that without you, there wouldn’t be any 787 deliveries this September – and maybe not for years to come.

“You were the ones who found the problems with the 787, and you were the ones who solved those problems. Working with our brothers and sisters from SPEEA, you overcame the mistakes made by suppliers around the globe. And in the process, you pioneered new techniques for building 21st century carbon fiber aircraft.

“The first 787 delivery doesn’t mean the program’s out of the woods. You know better than anyone how much work remains to be done. But I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that Machinists Union members have saved the 787 program – and quite possibly saved the Boeing Co. in the process.

“For all that you’ve done over the past three-and-a-half years – and all that you’ll do in the years ahead – I salute you. You make us all proud to be your fellow Machinists.”

Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at Boeing, District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents some 29,000 working men and women at 45 employers across Washington, Oregon and California. In 2010, District 751 members used collective bargaining to reach contracts with 22 of those employers, without a single work day lost to strikes.

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