US Boeing workers continue midwest strike after rejecting latest contract offer | US news
Boeing workers at three midwestern facilities where military aircraft and weapons are developed voted Sunday to reject the company’s latest contract offer and continue a strike that began almost three months ago.
The strike by about 3,200 machinists at plants in Mascoutah, Illinois, and the Missouri cities of St Louis and St Charles is smaller than last year’s strike by 33,000 Boeing workers assembling commercial jetliners but threatens to complicate the aerospace company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
Brian Bryant, president of the International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in a statement: “Boeing claimed that they were listening to their employees; the result of today’s vote proves that they are not.” “Boeing’s corporate executives continue to insult the people who build the world’s most advanced military aircraft—the same planes and military systems that keep our soldiers and our nation safe.”
Boeing said it was disappointed with the outcome and that the vote was close. The company said in a statement that it was increasingly hearing from workers “who want to cross the picket line” and “want to understand the value of our offer.”
The five-year offer was largely identical to offers previously rejected by union members. The company reduced the endorsement bonus but added a retention bonus of $3,000 in Boeing shares valid over three years and $1,000 over four years. It also improved wage growth for workers at the top of the pay scale in the contract’s fourth year.
“The union’s statement is misleading as the vote failed by a very narrow margin of 51% to 49%,” Boeing’s statement said. “We are turning our focus to implementing the next phase of our contingency plan to provide support to our customers.”
The machinists’ union acknowledged the vote was close but said in a message to members that “very few” workers had crossed the picket line.
“Our solidarity remains strong and the company’s assertion to the contrary is false,” the union said.
Union leaders have pressed the planemaker to offer higher retirement plan contributions and an approval bonus close to the $12,000 Boeing gave last year to striking union members at the company’s commercial aircraft division in the Pacific Northwest. Boeing argued that workers’ demands exceeded the cost of living in the midwest.
Ahead of Sunday’s vote, the union told its members it was not recommending approval of the company’s latest proposal, which it said was “not a meaningful improvement” on pensions and pay rises for more senior workers.
“It is long past time for Boeing to stop cheap-selling the workers who make its success possible and negotiate a fair deal that respects their skills and sacrifices,” Bryant said.
Negotiations heated up in the days before the summer strike; Workers rejected a previously proposed deal that included a 20% wage increase over the five-year contract period.
Boeing quickly responded with an amended agreement that did not increase the proposed wage increases but removed a scheduling provision that affected workers’ ability to earn overtime pay. The workers rejected this offer and went on strike the next morning. They also voted against the revised terms in September.
The company said it was preparing for the strike with a contingency plan “to ensure our non-striking workforce can continue to support our customers.”
Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security business accounts for more than a third of the company’s revenue. Boeing will report third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
