National Skills Summit

National Skills Summit
Innovative Initiatives: Manufacturing

International Association of Machinists and The Boeing Co: Quality Through Training Program (QTTP)

The Challenge:

To prepare dislocated workers at Boeing for new careers in high-skilled fields.

The Solution:

Offer tuition assistance and training programs that qualify employees for the new jobs available in their rapidly-changing workplace.

The Partners:

Boeing Company, the largest aerospace company in the world, manufactures commercial jetliners and military aircraft.

International Association of Machinists (IAM, AFL-CIO) is machinists union representing workers in 200 basic industries.

The Story:

Vicki Kramer's first and only job, which she held for eight years, was at a Boeing Blanket Shop. When the shop's closure forced her to look for employment, Vicki was afraid she would have a hard time finding a new job. Co-workers told her about the Quality Through Training Program (QTTP), and Vicki signed up for computer, blueprint reading, and precision measurement classes. Now Vicki works on a computer as an expeditor at Boeing's Harbor Pointe, Washington, facility. She says that QTTP gave her the "self-esteem and self-confidence to learn something new at a time of great change and uncertainty in my life." Vicki is now pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology with tuition assistance through QTTP.

Melanie Brisbane, a single mother, was working in Boeing's upholstery shop when management decided to relocate production to Mexico. Boeing helped arrange technical training classes through the QTTP program - classes which enabled Melanie to continue working at Boeing in a new capacity. She is now a plane-wing and skin-preparation mechanic at the Federickson plant near Tacoma, Washington. Through the program, Brisbane completed her associate's degree in arts and sciences at Pierce College and is taking classes towards a bachelor's degree.

QTTP, a program that has made a difference in the lives of dozens of women like Vicki and Melanie, is part of the collective bargaining agreement between Boeing and IAM intended to provide IAM members with education assistance, career counseling, and personal development opportunities. The program helps employees at seven Boeing sites to upgrade their skills so that they can meet new demands in the workplace and can cope with workplace changes. Professional career counseling and skills assessment is available to help workers establish and meet new goals. QTTP covers tuition at local community and technical schools. Boeing absorbs the entire cost of the program, approximately $14 million a year.

A Model of Innovation:

This partnership succeeds by offering a variety of different education and training options to employees, giving them the flexibility to navigate a constantly shifting workplace, while ensuring that Boeing has the skilled workers it needs even as its needs change. In this excellent example of labor-management cooperation, both sides win.

Contacts:

Sandee Baker, Manager - Communications
IAM/Boeing Joint Programs
6840 Fort Dent Way, Suite 100
Tukwila, Washington 98188
425-477-0007 (p)
425-477-0019 (f)

Gary Jackson, QTTP Co-Director
IAM
6840 Fort Dent Way, Suite 250
Tukwila, Washington
98188 425-477-0010 (p)
425-477-0019 (f)

Highlight Quote:

"I would like to apply my degree toward Boeing. It's going to help me, the college degree, definitely, move up in the company."

- Melanie Brisbane, QTTP student and mechanic (Seattle Times, April 11, 2000.)