- Boeing workers decide on strike mandate
- Union demands 40% pay rise in first comprehensive negotiations with Boeing in 16 years
- Boeing faces financial and production challenges, including competition from Airbus
Union: Boeing workers in Seattle want to send “strong message” in vote on strike authorization
July 17, 2024
Article 1 of 6 Boeing workers cheer as union leaders speak as Boeing factory workers in Washington state vote on whether to give their union a strike mandate as they demand big pay raises from their first contract in 16 years, at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, U.S., July 17, 2024. REUTERS/David Ryder
(1/6)Boeing workers cheer as union leaders speak as Boeing factory workers in Washington state vote on whether to give their union a strike mandate as they demand big pay raises from their first contract in 16 years, at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington, U.S., July 17, 2024. REUTERS/David Ryder Purchase Licensing right
SEATTLE, July 17 (Reuters) – Boeing (BA.N) On Wednesday, factory workers in Washington state will vote on whether to give their union a strike mandate as they demand a 40 percent pay raise in their first full negotiation with the aircraft maker in 16 years.
Many of the roughly 30,000 workers who build Boeing’s 737 MAX and other aircraft crowded into Seattle’s T-Mobile Park to vote, even though they are not allowed to strike before their collective bargaining agreement expires on September 12.
Boeing’s wage negotiations take place as the US aircraft manufacturer loses ground to its rival Airbus (AIR.PA) and is dealing with a crisis that erupted after a door stopper on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX jet broke off in midair on January 5. The aircraft manufacturer is also struggling with other problems.
“We remain confident that we can reach an agreement that balances the needs of our employees and the business realities we face as a company,” Boeing said in a statement on the collective bargaining negotiations in Washington.
While Wednesday’s vote is considered a procedural matter, the union opened the event at noon PDT with music, speeches and a convoy of workers on hundreds of motorcycles.
“It gives the bargaining committee more power and sends a strong signal,” local union president Jon Holden said of the vote in an interview in June.
The vote could, for example, free up funds if members later decide to go on strike, he added.
North American unions have taken advantage of the tense situation on the labor market and fought for high levels of agreement at the negotiating table; pilots, auto workers and others have been able to secure substantial pay increases.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents Boeing workers, said the company’s financial and production challenges would not change workers’ willingness to strike if necessary.
Aerospace mechanic Heath Hopkins said many of the workers, worried about their pensions and other issues, have been shouting and banging on materials in their factories to raise awareness.
“It gets loud in my store every hour,” Hopkins said on the sidelines of Wednesday’s event. “You have to put in earplugs.”
“Basically, everyone in the company is showing that we stand together as a union, as a group. We are ready to strike if necessary.”
Boeing employs more than 66,000 people who live in Washington state and work on programs such as the MAX, 767 and 777 widebody aircraft, making up the largest share of the company’s global workforce.
Boeing recently said it would plead guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal fraud to settle a U.S. Justice Department investigation into two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people, the government said in a court filing earlier this month.
The US aircraft manufacturer, which announced a deal to acquire main supplier Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N), for $4.7 billion, is expected to burn cash rather than generate it in 2024.
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Reporting by David Ryder in Seattle and Allison Lampert in Montreal. Editing by Matthew Lewis.
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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