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Contract talks restart between Boeing, machinists

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-13 11:42

SEATTLE -- Negotiations have begun to end a five-week strike by machinists for the Boeing Co.

Boeing Co. machinists and supporters cheer during a rally Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008, outside a Boeing administration building in Seattle. Boeing and the striking Machinists union have agreed to resume negotiations in hope of ending the strike, now over a month long. The union is demanding better job security, Boeing says it needs flexibility. The strike has idled 27,000 workers, mostly in the Puget Sound region and also in Portland and Wichita. [Agencies]

Related readings:  Boeing machinists held strike as talks fail  Boeing machinists strike as talks fail  Boeing given 48-hour ultimatum  Boeing production threatened by strike

A note saying talks were under way with a federal mediator was posted Sunday on the Web site of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union covers 25,000 hourly production workers in the Seattle area and about 2,000 more in Oregon and Kansas. Union spokeswoman Connie Keller says she doesn't know where the talks are taking place.

An agreement was announced Wednesday to renew contract talks for the first time since the strike began September 6. Key issues include job security, pay, retirement benefits and health care.