MOSES LAKE — Boeing firefighters began picketing at the Moses Lake Boeing facility on Tyndall Road NE on Saturday. Their contract with the aircraft manufacturer expired at 12:01 a.m. that morning.

“Despite extensive discussions through an impartial federal mediator, we did not reach an agreement with the union. We are disappointed the union chose not to even bring our offer to its members for one final vote. We have now locked out members of the bargaining unit and fully implemented our contingency plan with highly qualified firefighters performing the work of IAFF members,” a statement from Boeing said. 

According to that statement and one issued by Boeing Firefighters IAFF Local I-66, the union representing the picketing firefighters, negotiations between the company and the union failed to move through negotiations earlier this week. 

Witnesses reported seeing picketing Boeing Firefighters members in Moses Lake on Saturday morning, but no firefighters were present when Columbia Basin Herald staff visited the site around noon that day.

The Boeing statement said the negotiations have been ongoing for about two and a half months, and Boeing remains committed to reaching an agreement. The company claims it has offered a competitive compensation package that includes a 401(k) retirement plan and other benefits, including pay increases each year. Pay is one of the points of contention between the two groups, with Boeing saying the union is proposing a pay progression plan that would max out employees on their respective pay scales within six years of starting with the company.

The union said the company had locked out workers in an effort to intimidate union workers into voting in favor of what the union feels isn’t a workable agreement. 

“Just now, all work sites filled with Boeing Firefighters have had the employees stop work, take all their things, and leave the property,” the union statement said. “The Boeing Company initiated this lockout in an effort to intimidate and coerce these hard-working safety professionals. It won’t work,” the union statement read. 

To fill the gap in fire safety, Boeing says it has hired an interim force of firefighters to handle the duties of the union firefighters. 

A union statement says the interim fire safety personnel are actually local firefighters and alleges that the surrounding communities — the Renton Boeing facility and other sites within the state are also involved in the contract dispute — will have a less functional fire service as a result of the situation. Overall, the union said safety is of great concern in the situation. 

“Aren’t the billions in public tax breaks and credits the company has received over the years enough? When is Boeing finally going to make safety a priority? When is Boeing finally going to listen,” said Boeing Firefighters IAFF Local I-66 President Casey Yeager. 

Boeing said 125 staff are impacted by the contract negotiations statewide while the union places that number at 130.