A Machinists Union officer who worked for more than 25 years at Boeing in Puget Sound is now one of the union’s top negotiators with aerospace companies across North America.

Sumner resident Mark B. Johnson is a Grand Lodge representative for the union’s new Aerospace Territory, said Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers International.

Johnson had been a business representative for Machinists Union District Lodge 751 in Seattle since 2004. In his new role, Johnson is working for the IAM’s International Headquarters on issues that affect aerospace workers across the United States and Canada. He assumed the job Feb. 1.

Johnson has been a Machinists Union member since he first hired on at Boeing in 1977 as a facilities maintenance mechanic in Auburn.

As a business representative for District 751, Johnson has represented Machinists Union members at Boeing’s plants in Renton and Auburn. Johnson has taken part in the IAM’s last three rounds of contract talks with Boeing, including the recently-concluded negotiations for a four-year contract extension, where he helped lead talks over wages and incentives.

He has also been part of the union bargaining team for contract talks at aerospace suppliers Triumph Composites and GKN.

District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents

more than 31,000 working men and women at 45 employers across Washington, Oregon and California.