Boeing union workers reject contract, vote to strike

Industrial difficulties can be added to the list of woes at aerospace giant Boeing after members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 voted in favor of strike action.

Strike action, involving approximately 30,000 workers in the Seattle and Portland areas, began at midnight, September 12, after union members voted by 94.6 percent to reject a new contract and by 96 percent in favor of industrial action.

The action will hit Boeing’s assembly plants in Washington and comes after an offer that included a 25 percent raise over four years, better benefits for healthcare and retirement, and, perhaps most importantly, an assurance that Boeing’s next commercial aircraft would be built in Washington state.

The union’s negotiating team recommended that members accept the deal [PDF]. Earlier this week, the President of IAM District 75, Jon Holden, and the President of W24, Brandon Bryant, said, “Financially, the company finds itself in a tough position due to many self-inflicted missteps. It is IAM members who will bring this company back on track.”

However, the optimism has proven to be short-lived. According to a report in The Washington Post, opposition grew as workers studied the terms and vented their frustrations with the company. For many, a relatively small pay rise now was insufficient to make up for grievances that have built up over more than a decade. Reports put the pay rise being demanded as nearer to 40 percent.

And so here we are. It’s yet another challenge for the freshly minted CEO of Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, to address. Ortberg landed in the hot seat just weeks ago, and must course-correct after several years in which the company has lurched from disaster to disaster, including the infamous Alaska Airline Boeing 737 door plug incident and the recent uncrewed return of Boeing’s Starliner after NASA engineers determined that the risk of using the spacecraft to transport astronauts was too great.

In response to the vote, a Boeing spokesperson said, “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members.

“We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”

The impact the strike will have on Boeing is difficult to quantify. A previous stoppage in 2008 cost the company a reported $100 million a day. The latest stoppage will undoubtedly affect Boeing’s ability to deliver new aircraft and impact the recovery that it desperately needs. ®