Tentative Deal Could End Dispute Over Boeing’s SC Plant

There could be a breakthrough in the federal government's dispute with Boeing over the company's decision to open an airplane production plant in South Carolina. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers says it has reached a tentative contract deal that calls for Boeing's 737 Max aircraft to be built at union facilities in Renton, Washington. If that deal is ratified, the union says it would drop its complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over Boeing's 787 assembly plant in North Charleston. The NLRB filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging that Boeing broke labor laws and tried to retaliate against the union by building the South Carolina plant. The NLRB says word of the tentative labor agreement is a "hopeful" development. Members of the Machinists Union will vote on the proposed contract next week.