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As the ongoing strike enters its fourth week, Boeing accused the machinists union of failing to bargain in good faith in an unfair labor practice filing Thursday.
In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Boeing said the union “engaged in retroactive bargaining.” [and] surface bargaining” and accused the union of misrepresenting contract terms and the status of negotiations to union members and the public. Boeing also said the union “failed to bring representatives to the bargaining table with authorities to reach an agreement.”
The allegations come after a two-day bargaining session ended with Boeing withdrawing its latest contract offer and both sides accusing the other of refusing to negotiate. After talks broke down Tuesday, the machinists union said Boeing was “hell-bent” on sticking to its latest contract offer. In an interview the next day, local president John Holden said Boeing had overstated what it had offered the union.
Boeing, meanwhile, said the machinists union did not “seriously consider” the company's proposal and instead made “negotiable demands” that Boeing could not meet.
In a statement Thursday, Boeing reiterated that it had improved its proposal during negotiations this week but the union continued to insist on “unreasonable demands.”
“The union's public narrative is confusing and has made it difficult for our workers to find a solution,” Boeing said “We are committed to reaching an agreement to end the strike.”
The machinists union similarly accused Boeing of violating labor laws and an unfair labor practice out of the strike. On the night of the strike vote, Holden alleged that factory workers experienced discriminatory treatment, coercive questioning, illegal surveillance and illegal promises of benefits.
The union declined to comment Thursday on Boeing's unfair labor practice charges.
In the nearly four weeks since the Sept. 13 walkout by 33,000 union machinists, Boeing and the union's negotiating committee have met three times for a total of five days of negotiations to mediate negotiations. Both sides said that no meaningful progress was made during the session.
In connection with Boeing's allegations of unfair labor practices, it accused union leadership of bargaining in bad faith before the strike vote took place. It accused union leaders of “undermining” a tentative contract agreement that union leadership had originally supported.
Despite the support of the union leadership, the machinists overwhelmingly rejected the offer and went on strike.
In the first session of mediated bargaining a few days later, Boeing claimed union leadership did not want to discuss the offer they had once approved and went back to their initial offer made in March at the start of negotiations.
In the latest round of negotiations, Boeing has offered to improve take-home pay and retirement benefits. The agency claims the union is back to its original position and “has not engaged in productive negotiations.”
“Boeing's efforts were not met with similar good-faith efforts on the other side of the table,” Boeing wrote in the NLRB document.
Holden, the machinists union president, said in an interview Wednesday that Boeing overstated what it brought to the table this week.
Take-home pay increases revolve around a guaranteed 2% annual bonus, Holden said. But machinists have received a big bonus for 11 of the past 12 years, meaning the terms won't guarantee high take-home pay, Holden continued.
He said that the company has increased the amount of money to the workers with the pension benefits vested for every year of service. But, Holden continued, the company hasn't addressed other retirement benefits.
No future discussion sessions are currently scheduled.
Boeing's latest offer would raise general wages from 25% to 30% over the next four years, tack on additional contributions to the 401(k) retirement plan and restore an annual bonus that was not part of the company's original proposal. .
The machinists union did not vote on that latest proposal. It did not meet members' demands, the union said, and Boeing released the proposal to the media only after it was sent to a negotiating committee away from the bargaining table.
On Wednesday, 30 members of Congress called on the parties to come to an agreement. In a letter sent to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, as well as Machinist leadership Holden and Brandon Bryant, the lawmakers urged both groups to “negotiate in good faith and reach a fair agreement in a timely manner.”
A coalition of lawmakers led by Rep. Pramila Jaipal, D-Seattle, of Washington, said it is “deeply troubling” that striking workers have lost access to employer-provided health benefits.
“Boeing's latest offer, coupled with worker shortages in health benefits, underscores the urgent need for a fair and equitable solution,” the letter reads.