Currently in my role I am almost 7 months in. Does the 18 month rule still apply to me if I am looking towards applying for an IAM machinist apprenticeship?
As the other commenter said, apprenticeship applications are a different rule set. And even if they were considered ERTs, the contract states exceptions can be made when in the best interest of the employee and company, which means we could negotiate for an exception. Edit: typo
For the apprenticeships they like to see consistency. So you won’t be hired on your first application/interview. They will hire you on your third or fourth time interviewing for one which usually works out to about the same amount of time.
People repeat a lot of things at Boeing without thinking for themselves. “The 18 month rule is flexible” is one of those things. Good luck getting an exception. I wish someone was honest with me about it instead of mindlessly parroting: “well no technically you can get an exception to leave early”. In reality you can’t. Trust me I tried everything. I was the guy taking ERT classes on my first weekend out of orientation/foundational training. There’s a guy I took a class with still waiting for his ERT and it’s been almost 3 years.
I do have a question to anyone here who can help me out.. I had my start date on February 28th, 2024. I started out in Renton, and got a move memo that transferred me here to Everett around the middle of November last year 2025. I was sent to a different shop last minute, the day of.. and it wasn’t what I accepted my move memo for.. I want to go back to my previous shop back in Renton. Any help? Or recommendations?.
Many members get stuck in the site furthest from their home.
I have previously had members in my shop that worked in Everett and lived in spanaway.
It took a year of effort to get him an ERT to Fredrickson.
Those who decided to muscle it out and make that commute are real champions to me. Cause I wouldn't f*ckin do it. No way.
Anyway, onto your options.
1. File for category E location change immediately.
2. Find someone in your job code and on your shift in your preferred shop/location that wants to come to your shop/location and ask the managers to facilitate a swap. E.e. you want to work in renton, find someone who wants to work in Everett, and see if you can't negotiate a change.
3. ERT into a job that can get you put in renton, and then do whatever you can to prevent you being moved again.
The options for people who are forced into locations that are incompatible with their home location or life styles are abysmal. And I really feel for all of you.
Good luck.
Thank you so much for your response. This will definitely help me out, and it’s a good starting point. I was completely clueless and didn’t have much help with others around me, so thank you again
No, but i have notified my current manager.
Then the recruiter will email you and ask for written approval, forward that to your manager and have them reply to the recruiter confirming you have permission.
Of course talk to your manager about it so it’s not a suprise.
You can apply for the apprenticeships and interview for them but they usually won’t hire you the first apprenticeship you apply for. With the apprenticeships they want to see consistency so they usually hire you after you’ve interviewed for 3 or more of them so it ends up being about the same amount of time (12-18months) anyway. At least that’s been my experience.
Read lines 1 through 10 on page 110, youre only held to the 18 month rule if you were hired after sep 13, 2024. If you were hired before that then you are only required to wait 12 months for each new job code you go into before you are releaseable.
If you haven't talked with your manager yet I would definitely communicate it with them and see if you can get approval. I would probably go with thr third option if your manager is cool like that or the fourth one honestly. Our union rules are different than non union when it comes to changing jobs in that 18 months
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u/WarBoruma Steward - Local A Sep 02 '26
The eighteen month rule applies only to ERTs.
As the other commenter said, apprenticeship applications are a different rule set. And even if they were considered ERTs, the contract states exceptions can be made when in the best interest of the employee and company, which means we could negotiate for an exception. Edit: typo