() – Boeing union members have rejected a proposed four-year contract with the troubled aircraft maker, authorising the first strike at the company in 16 years, the International Association of Machinists (IAM) union said on Monday. Some 33,000 workers are set to walk off the job, with the strike set to begin early Friday morning.
The rejected deal, which union leadership had described as the best it had ever negotiated with Boeing, would have provided raises of at least 25 percent over the life of the agreement. It also increased union members’ job security because Boeing promised to build its next commercial jetliner, which has not yet been announced, at a union plant. Without a contract that includes such a clause, Boeing could decide to build the plane at a nonunion factory.
Ninety-five percent of IAM union members voted against the deal. In a separate vote, 96 percent voted in favor of authorizing a strike, easily surpassing the two-thirds threshold needed to approve a stoppage.
The strike is scheduled to begin Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PT, or Friday at 2:59 a.m. ET. While a new agreement may be reached in the remaining hours, it seems unlikely that a strike can be avoided, given the anger of rank-and-file union members with the company.
“This is about fighting for our future,” said Jon Holden, president of Boeing’s largest IAM union, announcing the results of the vote. “We will return to the table whenever we can to push forward on the issues our members say are important.”
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement.
Previous concessions and a series of problems at Boeing, including layoffs and the shifting of some work from a unionized assembly plant to the company’s only nonunion factory, had sparked widespread anger at the company. So the vote against the contract was expected, despite what was included in the offer.
Earlier this week, Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s new CEO, acknowledged that members had been upset by previous contract terms, but urged union members to put that issue aside and vote in favor of the deal.
“I know the reaction to our tentative agreement with the IAM has been passionate,” he wrote to employees. “I understand and respect that passion, but I ask that you not sacrifice the opportunity to secure our future together, because of the frustrations of the past.”
The strike, if it comes, would be just the latest blow to Boeing. Over the past five years, Boeing has suffered a myriad of problems, some tragic and many embarrassing. Most of them have been financially devastating.
Two fatal crashes of its 737 Max, one in October 2018 and the other in March 2019, killed 346 people, led to a 20-month grounding of Boeing’s best-selling jetliner and a halt in deliveries to fix a design flaw linked to the crashes.
Boeing then faced a series of questions about the quality and safety of its planes. Scrutiny increased after a door stopper popped off a 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines shortly after takeoff on Jan. 5. While there were no deaths or serious injuries, the incident triggered numerous federal investigations, one of which revealed that the plane had left a Boeing factory without the four screws needed to hold the door stopper in place.
Boeing has since agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for misleading the Federal Aviation Administration during the initial investigation into the Max. As part of its agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, the company will have to operate under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor.
Boeing (BA) shares have lost more than 60% of their value over the past five years, and more than 30% since the Alaska Air incident earlier this year.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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