Mediator Expected to Check on Boeing Strike

Striking engineers at Boeing Co. said they had no plans to meet with company executives despite the imminent arrival of a top federal mediator trying to end the 10-day walkout. Both sides said they were surprised to hear that Richard Barnes, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, would visit Seattle next week but added that his presence could spur fresh discussions for the first time since Feb. 8. Barnes moderated fruitless two-day negotiations last week that failed to bridge the wage, bonus and benefits gaps between Boeing and its second-largest union, sending between 17,000 and 19,000 employees, represented by the Society of Professional Engineered Employees in Aerospace, to the picket lines. Barnes will visit Seattle on unrelated business but is expected to check in with both sides, as he has done since the strike began. Boeing shares fell $1.50 to close at $36 on the New York Stock Exchange.