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One Boeing employee faces charges after authorities found meth-making materials in one of the company's buildings yesterday.

Prosecuting Attorneys say Dennis Banker admitted to police that he not only put the materials in another employee's office, but left a note saying another employee was the one who brought the chemicals into the office. Authorities were alerted to the situation when a fire alarm tripped early Thursday morning.

A check of security cameras showed, Banker entered the building minutes before the alarm.

Emergency workers responding to a fire alarm at Boeing Wednesday morning discovered a stash of chemicals that are used to make meth.

Berkeley police say the alarm went off around 10. Firefighters found the chemicals in the building and police removed them.

One Boeing employee is being held in connection to the incident. 

When Boeing and North Bay Produce expand their operations at MidAmerica Airport, they'll get a little help from St. Clair County to pay for it.

The County Board approved $3.65 million dollars in bonds to finance the expansions on Monday. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that both companies will repay the county through renewed lease agreements at the Mascoutah airport.

County Board Chairman Mark Kern told the paper that the companies expect to add a combined 60 jobs at the site.

The bonds are part of an upcoming $30 million bond sale, which will also fund more than $20 million in road projects and refinance bonds previously issued by the county.

TOKYO (AP) — Boeing executives say commercial flights of its grounded 787 jets will resume "within weeks, not months" with a third of safety tests already completed.

They said Friday they had not pinpointed the causes of the two battery problems that resulted in the global grounding of the technologically advanced Dreamliner planes.

But Boeing chief project engineer Michael Sinnett said a new design has many layers of safeguards to prevent battery fires and overheating.

The new design has measures to contain the problem from spreading and to keep the aircraft safe, even if batteries malfunction again.

The executives made the comments in Japan, where All Nippon Airways was the launch customer for the 787.

SEATTLE (AP) - Boeing Co.'s engineers have accepted a new four-year contract while technical workers rejected their offer and voted to authorize a future strike.

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The union representing both groups had recommended rejection of the contract because it would not provide pensions to new employees. They would have a 401(k) retirement plan instead.

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The union called that unacceptable, but the Chicago-based aerospace company said the change was important to its future.

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The vote tallied late Tuesday came as the company is trying to solve battery problems that have grounded its new 787s.

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The engineers and technical workers in the union work on plans for new planes and solve problems that arise on the factory floor. The two units bargain at the same time, but their contracts are separate and independent agreements, the union noted.

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While a strike by the technical workers is not imminent, the vote means the negotiating team can call one at any time, said Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

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The engineers' vote means those 15,500 employees have a new contract in place, Dugovich said. Union negotiators hope to resume contract talks soon on behalf of the 7,400 technical workers, he said.

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Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said in a statement that the company was pleased with the engineers' vote but "deeply disappointed" in the technical workers' rejection of what he called the company's "best and final" offer.

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"The realities of the market require us to make changes so we can invest in new products and keep winning in this competitive environment," Conner said in his statement.

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"That's why our proposal to move future hires to an enhanced 401(k)-style retirement plan is so important, as we have repeatedly emphasized over the course of these negotiations."

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Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said the company is legally obligated to have discussions with SPEEA, but he noted Conner's statement about the importance of the 401(k) transition for future hires.

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"That remains our position," Alder said.

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Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he's concerned about the split vote and spoke to union and Boeing representatives, urging them to resume negotiations.

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"We cannot overstate the importance of the aerospace industry to the economy of Washington," Inslee said in a statement. "There are more than 131,000 employees in aerospace-related companies working across the state, the vast majority of which are directly reliant on the Boeing Company."

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Union members rejected one contract offer in October. The previous contract expired in November.

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SPEEA went on strike for 40 days in 2000.

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"With this second rejection by technical workers of Boeing takeaways, it's time for the company to stop wasting resources and improve its offer to reflect the value and contributions technical workers bring to Boeing," SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth said in a statement. "That way, we can avoid a strike and focus on fixing the problems of the 787 and restoring customer confidence in Boeing."

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The latest labor unrest is happening as U.S. regulators launch an open-ended review of the 787's design and construction. Last month, a battery on a parked 787 caught fire in Boston. On Jan. 16, another 787 made an emergency landing in Japan after another battery problem.

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All 50 787s that Boeing had delivered so far are grounded until the issue is resolved.

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The union's nearly 23,000 employees are mostly in the Puget Sound region. Union leaders believe a strike would shut down Boeing production lines in Everett, Wash., where its big planes are made, as well as in Renton, Wash., where it cranks out the widely used 737.

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The factory-floor assembly work is done by the members of the International Association of Machinists. The Machinists approved a new, four-year contract in December 2011, after a walkout in 2008 that contributed to a 3 1/2-year delay in delivering the first 787.

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It was also a factor in Boeing opening a plant in South Carolina, where laws make it more difficult to unionize.

 

A strike could be imminent for one of the nation's largest aerospace companies.

The union for Boeing's engineers and technical workers is counting ballots on the company's latest contract offer. It has recommended that members reject the offer because it gives new members a 401(k) retirement plan instead of a pension.

The union also wants authority to call a strike if talks break down.