Johnson Re-Elected As Machinists Chief

Bill Johnson has been re-elected president of District Lodge 751 of the Machinists union, which represents production workers at The Boeing Co., the union said Friday.

Johnson, who was seeking a second four-year term, received 2,833 votes in balloting at Seattle-area union halls Thursday.

David Clay, an Everett jig builder and former Johnson supporter, received 2,659 votes. Thomas Finnegan, an Auburn machinist, received 1,345; Neil J. Chance, an electronics worker and president of Local Lodge E, got 669; and machinist Ben C. Rogers received 300.

About 28,000 union members were eligible to vote. The union represents about 43,500 workers, nearly all in Washington and Oregon. It is Boeing’s largest union, representing about one-third of the total employment at the aerospace company.

Johnson, a former drill operator, had faced strong criticism over his handling of the 10-week Machinists strike at Boeing in late 1995. Johnson had recommended that striking workers accept Boeing’s second contract offer. Union members rejected it resoundingly, raising questions of whether Johnson was in touch with his membership.