Boeing Machinists reject contract offer tied to 777X; Inslee vows state to still compete for plane

SEATTLE -- By a 2-to-1 margin, Machinists union members in the Puget Sound region Wednesday rejected Boeing's proposed eight-year contract extension that would have cut pension and other benefits in exchange for Boeing's commitment to build the planned 777X airliner and its advanced-technology wing in Washington state.

Sixty-seven percent of those 31,000 union members in the region voted no on the proposed contract extension, the union announced Wednesday night.

There will be no strike, because the workers' current contract does not expire until 2016, but the big question now is whether Boeing will seek to assemble the 777X in another state.

As workers were casting votes Wednesday afternoon, one of the 31,000 Machinists union members in the region, Randy McFadden, said at the union hall voting site: "Boeing is asking us to get rid of all the things we worked 20 years for -- flush it down, just so they can make more money."