Boeing To Increase Production In China Union Voices Objections To Plan

Boeing plans to increase its investment in China to coincide with the company’s rising production rates for commercial airplanes a decision that has drawn sharp criticism from Boeing’s largest union.

Michael Zimmerman, president of Boeing China, told Chinese journalists in Beijing this week that Boeing will produce more aircraft parts next year with Chinese aircraft manufacturers in Xian, Shenyang and Shanghai.

Boeing also plans to increase its direct investment in the Chinese aircraft industry as well as swap more aviation technology with Chinese aerospace companies, Zimmerman said.

The decision to increase investment in China would help neutralize rival Airbus Industrie’s recent gains in the world’s fastest-growing market for commercial aircraft.

It also comes at a delicate moment in U.S.-Chinese relations. In less than two weeks, Chinese President Jiang Zemin will meet with President Clinton in the first state visit by a Chinese president to Washington, D.C., in 12 years.

Expectations of a Boeing order announcement are running high, but so is criticism of the Chinese government. Human-rights groups and Christian conservatives plan to protest Jiang’s visit over human-rights abuses and religious persecution.

Boeing, which has bought Chinese-made aircraft parts since the mid-1970s, has invested heavily in helping Chinese suppliers expand production and improve quality of their parts. Now, more than 2,000 Boeing aircraft are equipped with parts built in China, including complete tail sections for Boeing’s new 737 models.

But the practice of shipping work to China remains a sensitive topic with the largest union at Boeing - the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union, which represents more than 35,000 production workers, is concerned that Boeing’s growing investments in China eventually will lead to fewer U.S. aerospace jobs. IAM officials angrily opposed Boeing’s earlier decision to invest $11 million in an aircraft maintenance joint venture.

“These are high-tech, high-skilled jobs - some of the most skilled jobs in the world - and they are being sent to China at the expense of American workers,” said Matt Bates, an IAM spokesman. “The only people benefiting here are the Boeing shareholders.”

Boeing officials say no U.S. jobs will be affected.