Local Boeing firefighters continue to picket during lockout

MOSES LAKE — Staffing, safety and pay scales are at the root of a contract impasse that’s had Boeing firefighters locked out of the company’s Moses Lake facility since Saturday.

“Currently, there is no fire protection here at Grant County other than one manager that's been here since Friday,” said Daryl Gummere, business agent for IAFF Local I-66, the union representing Boeing firefighters. “They're trying to protect the plant with just one person.”

The facility has no mutual aid agreements with city, county or port fire departments, Gummere said.

A Boeing statement said neighboring firefighting agencies had been notified that their help might be needed, but it was unclear if that included the Moses Lake area or only other plants it operates in Washington.

The lockout affects 13 people in Moses Lake, Gummere said, 12 firefighters and a fire inspector. About 10 people were picketing on Tyndall Road outside the facility Monday morning.

Negotiations have been going on between the Boeing Company and the union for about two and a half months, according to a written statement from the company, and a federal mediator was even brought in to try to settle things. At issue, among other things, is a pay scale that prevents corporate fire brigades from competing with municipal fire departments for personnel, which union members say leaves the brigade dangerously understaffed.

“We advertise (for) lateral-entry firefighters, meaning firefighters with at least three years of experience versus an entry-level firefighter, somebody straight off the street that doesn't know which end of the fire hose water comes out of,” Gummere said. “When we advertise for lateral entry, that wage is lower than entry-level wages anywhere else.”

“Our contract offer is a competitive, market-based compensation package that is aligned with industrial fire departments,” the Boeing Company wrote in its statement. “The union has repeatedly attempted to apply municipal fire department standards to Boeing’s industrial fire department despite the statement of work being completely different.”

The company’s statement said Boeing has offered a new compensation schedule that would result in an average increase of about $21,000 per year, and that the firefighters’ average take-home pay was $91,000. Gummere disputed that statement, saying it reflects a few firefighters who were able to get to the top of the pay scale within six years, which isn’t possible with Boeing’s proposed scale.

“In most areas, you get to the top of your pay scale (in) anywhere from three to six years,” said Matt Lowery, a campaign strategist for the union. “The current contract gets them to the top of their pay scale in, I believe, 14 (years), and the company is proposing 19.”

The lack of staffing poses risks for the facility and its personnel, Gummere said, because Boeing firefighters have to be prepared for a large number of situations with a team that’s already small.

“We’re the seat-of-your-pants fire department at times,” he said. “We’re cross-trained in EMS, structural, aircraft rescue firefighting, hazardous material technicians … confined space. So we're cross-trained in more disciplines within the fire service than your average fire department.”

With staffing levels the way they are, Gummere said, if a fire were to occur at the Boeing facility, the team doesn’t always have enough people to put it out. Both state and federal law require firefighters to enter a burning structure in groups of at least two, with at least two more personnel outside for their safety. The Washington Administrative Code specifically applies that requirement to industrial fire brigades and municipal fire departments.

“History has shown that when two firefighters go in and they go down and there's not two people waiting on the outside, they have a higher tendency to die,” Gummere said. Lowery said he wasn’t aware of any case where that had become necessary at a Boeing facility, however.

“Our firefighter staffing levels are actually higher than the safety standards applicable to industrial fire departments,” the company wrote. “The union is using standards that do not apply to this bargaining unit.”

“The main thing is safety,” Gummere said. “Proper staffing equals safety, retention and attraction equals safety, benefits equal safety.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.