SEATTLE, November 13, 1996 - Tom Schick, executive vice president and deputy to the President of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said today that the request made by Local 751 of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Union to the National Labor Relations Board to seek a federal court injunction is without merit. The injunction sought by the IAM would prohibit Boeing from implementing major process improvements that will affect Expediter jobs.

"We are very disappointed that IAM officials are continuing to pursue this tactic when no Expediter's employment is at risk and when the IAM officials have known about the changes taking place for more than a year," Schick said. "Boeing is currently hiring additional hourly Expediters. Moreover, Boeing is committed to reassigning and retraining willing employees for available work whose jobs are affected by any of the process improvement initiatives."

Boeing is engaged in implementing new processes to do work more efficiently and to remain competitive in a very challenging global airplane market. In the course of this, existing jobs are changing and new jobs are being created and people have the opportunity to apply for them voluntarily.

Job changes are the result of the elimination of a large number of old computer systems, the implementation of new production processes, and the elimination of redundant tasks that are currently performed in multiple job classifications.

"By implementing these process improvements and job changes Boeing is not violating the law. Likewise, Boeing is not violating the labor agreement with the IAM. And Boeing is not, as the IAM contends, transferring hourly work into salaried work," Schick said.

Some of the tasks performed by Expediters have historically been performed by salaried employees called Inventory Planners (now called Material Planners). This unnecessary and costly overlap in tasks is being eliminated. The traditional salaried tasks will remain with the salaried workforce. However, the principal tasks of an Expediter -- tracking down and physically locating missing parts -- will remain an hourly function.

"Boeing is not forcing anyone out of the bargaining unit," Schick said. "All affected employees who want to remain on the hourly payroll will be given an opportunity to do so. Employees who want to apply for the new Material Planner positions will be given an opportunity to do so."

Boeing has also been actively communicating to employees and affected unions about the changes that will take place as a result of the process improvement efforts. This communication began long before the IAM filed its unfair labor practice charges.