Strike Continues as 64% Boeing Workers Vote Against Contract Offer

Boeing factory workers voted to reject a contract offer and continue a more than five-week strike on Wednesday. The Boeing workers contract rejection is a blow to investor and management hopes of a resolution to the acrimonious dispute.

(Image Credit: boeing)

Boeing workers voted against a new labor deal that included 35% wage increases over four years, their union said Wednesday. Extending a more than five-week Boeing workers strike that has halted most of the company’s aircraft production, which is centered in the Seattle area.

Boeing strike continues vote for rejection

The Boeing workers vote was 64% in opposition to the deal, which offered a 35% rise in wages over four years.

The union vote to push Boeing for better terms reflects years of resentment from workers who felt cheated by the company in talks a decade ago and deepens a financial crisis.

Union ready for negotiations

Union leaders said they were ready to immediately resume negotiations with Boeing on the first new contract since 2014. During which time Boeing used the threat of moving production of the new version of the 777 out of the region to push through a deal that ended traditional pensions.

“After 10 years of sacrifices, we still have ground to make up, and we’re hopeful to do so by resuming negotiations promptly,” leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a statement after votes were tallied.

Boeing labor dispute

More than 30,000 machinists downed tools in Boeing’s West Coast factories on September 13, halting production of the best-selling 737 MAX and 767 and 777 wide-body programs.

The rejection was the second in a formal vote. The previous offer was rejected by 95% of workers voting last month, leading to the strike.

Continued strike expensive for Boeing

The strike is costing the company about $1 billion a month, according to S&P Global Ratings.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg had said reaching a deal with workers was a priority in order to get the company back on track after years of safety and quality problems.

Boeing said during its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday that it expects to burn cash in 2025, even as Ortberg warned there was no quick fix for the ailing planemaker.

Boeing’s proposal

The latest proposal, announced last Saturday, included 35% raises over four years, increased 401(k) contributions, a $7,000 bonus and other improvements.

Boeing agreed in the new contract to build its next aircraft in the Pacific Northwest, which had also been a sticking point with unionized workers after Boeing moved all of its 787 Dreamliner production to a non-union factory in South Carolina.

Workers had pushed for higher pay amid a surge in living costs in the Puget Sound area. Some machinists were upset about losing their pension plan in a previous contract that they signed in 2014, but the latest proposal didn’t offer a pension.

Effect of continued strike at Boeing

Spirit AeroSystems last week said it would temporarily furlough about 700 workers and that layoffs or other furloughs are possible if Boeing machinists’ strike continues.

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