Workers OK contract extension

Unionized Boeing machinists approved a four-year contract extension that likely ends a federal complaint over the opening of a non-union assembly plant in South Carolina. Union officials say that 74 percent of voting members chose to approve the deal. The union represents 28,000 workers in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. Boeing promised that if workers approved the pact, the company would build the new version of the 737 in the Puget Sound region. (Source: AP via Fox News, News Tribune, Business Wire, Seattle Times, 12/08/11) Gulf Coast note: Boeing has several operations in the Gulf Coast.