Boeing factory workers strike after rejecting contract offer

SEATTLE (AP) – Aircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at a Boeing factory near Seattle and later elsewhere. Union members voted Unopposed going on strike and rejecting a temporary deal that would have given them a 25% wage increase over four years.

At 12:01 PDT, less than three hours after the strike began, the local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced that 94.6% of voting workers had rejected the offer. contract And 96% approved a work stoppage, easily exceeding the two-thirds requirement.

The labor action involves 33,000 Boeing machinists, most of them in Washington state, and is expected to halt production of the company's best-selling airline planes. The strike will not affect commercial flights but will represent another setback for the aerospace giant, whose fame And financial This year has been marred by manufacturing problems and multiple federal investigations.

Striking machinists unite 737 maxBoeing's best-selling aircraft include the 777, or “triple-seven” jet, and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. The walkout likely won't halt production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is built by nonunions Workers in South Carolina.

Outside the Renton factory, people stood with signs saying, “Historic deal my ass” and “Have you seen housing prices?” Car horns blared and a boom box played songs like Twisted Sister's “We're Not Gonna Take It” and Taylor Swift's “Look What You Made Me Do.”

Machinists earn an average of $75,608 per year, not counting overtime, and that will increase to $106,350 at the end of a four-year contract, according to Boeing.

However, the deal fell short of the union's initial demand for a 40% pay increase over three years. The union also wanted to restore traditional pensions that were eliminated a decade ago but settled for a new Boeing contribution increase to $4,160 per worker in employee 401(k) retirement accounts.

Under the rejected contract, workers would receive a $3,000 lump sum payment and a reduction in health care costs. Boeing has met a key union demand by agreeing to build its next new plane in Washington state.

Several workers said they found the wage offer inadequate and were upset by the company's recent decision to change the criteria for paying annual bonuses. Toolmaker John Olson, 45, said he received a 2% percent raise during his six years at Boeing.

“Our last contract was 16 years ago and the company is based on wage increases from wages 16 years ago,” Olson said. “They don't even keep up with the inflation that's happening now.”

Boeing responded to the strike announcement by saying it was “prepared to return to the table to reach a new agreement.”

“The message is clear that the tentative agreement we have reached with the IAM leadership is not acceptable to the members. We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and unions,” the company said in a statement.

Little has gone right for Boeing this yearfrom a Blow out the panel And in January NASA left a gaping hole in one of its passenger planes Leaving two astronauts in space Rather than sending them home on a troubled Boeing spacecraft.

As long as the strike continues, it will deprive the company of the cash it needs to supply new planes to airlines. This will be another challenge for the new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortbergwho was tasked six weeks ago with turning around a company that has lost more than $25 billion over the past six years and fallen behind European rival Airbus.

Ortberg made a last-ditch effort to salvage a deal that had the unanimous support of union negotiators. He told engineers on Wednesday that walkouts and strikes that “no one wins” would jeopardize Boeing's recovery and cast more doubt on the company in the eyes of its airline customers.

“For Boeing, it's no secret that our business is going through a tough time, partly because of our own mistakes in the past,” he said. “Working together, I know we can get back on track, but a strike would jeopardize our shared recovery, further erode trust with our customers and damage our ability to define our future together.”

The head of the local union, IAM District 751 President John Holden, said Ortberg faces a difficult position because machinists have been bitter since 2008 about stagnant wages and benefits related to pensions and health care that have prevented them from moving the company for jobs elsewhere.

“It's about honor, it's about the past, and it's about fighting for our future,” Holden said in announcing the strike.

The vote was a rebuke to Holden and union negotiators, who had recommended the workers approve the contract proposal. Holden, who prophesied Workers will vote to strikeHe said he would survey union members to decide what they want to emphasize when negotiations resume.

Depending on how long the strike lasts, halting aircraft production could prove costly for beleaguered Boeing. eight weeks strike in 2008The longest walkout at Boeing since a 10-week walkout in 1995, the delayed revenue costs the company about $100 million a day.

Before the tentative deal was announced Sunday, Jefferies aerospace analyst Sheila Cahiaoglu estimated that a strike would cost the company about $3 billion, based on the 2008 strike and inflation and current aircraft-production rates.

Solomon Hammond, 33, another Renton toolmaker, said he was prepared to go on strike indefinitely to secure a better deal.

Boeing's offer “is simply not compatible with the current climate. The wages are too low,” Hammond said. “I make $47 an hour and work paycheck to paycheck. Everything costs more.”