Boeing Contract Talks Remain Deadlocked

The deadlock in a Machinists Union strike against the Boeing Co. continued Tuesday despite the likelihood of a National Labor Relations Board complaint.

A day after union charges against the world’s largest passenger jet manufacturer were upheld by the board’s regional director, neither side had made a move to resume negotiations, federal mediator Ben Youtsey said.

“Hopefully, I’ll be talking to them in the next couple of days, mostly just to hear what their thinking is,” Youtsey said.

The strike began Oct. 6, a day after 26,000 union members voted 78 percent to reject Boeing’s last contract offer. The union represents more than 30,000 production workers in the Puget Sound area, Spokane, Wichita, Kan., and Gresham, Ore.

Key issues are job security, medical benefits and pay.