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Boeing union says postpones strike for 48 hours

SEATTLE
Thu Sep 4, 2008 6:17am EDT
Boeing machinists march from company's Renton, Washington factory to their union hall to vote on the company's final contract offer, September 3, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Sorbo

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The International Association of Machinists, Boeing Co's largest labor union, said on Wednesday that it will postpone a potential strike for 48 hours to allow more time to negotiate with the company.

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The union leadership announced the extension, which means employees will work under their old contract until Friday, after saying that 87 percent of its members voted to strike and walk off the job at midnight on Wednesday.

If a deal is not struck by Friday, nearly 27,000 Boeing workers start a strike that will cost the company about $100 million in revenue per day as customers' planes sit idle on the production lines.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), mostly based in Boeing's commercial plane plants in the Seattle area, also said 80 percent rejected Boeing's "best and final" offer.

(Reporting by Laura Myers; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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