Aircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at Boeing factories near Seattle and elsewhere after union members voted overwhelmingly to go on strike and reject a contract that would have increased wages by 25% over four years. The strike started at 12:01am Pacific time, less than three hours after the local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced 94.6% of voting workers rejected the proposed contract and 96% approved the work stoppage, easily surpassing a two-thirds requirement. This is the first time Boeing workers have gone on strike in 16 years, the New York Times reports. A 2008 strike lasted 50 days.
The action involves 33,000 Boeing machinists, most in Washington state, and is expected to shut down airplane production. The strike represents another setback for the aerospace giant, whose reputation and finances have been battered by manufacturing problems and multiple federal investigations this year, the AP reports.
- The striking machinists assemble the 737 Max, Boeing's best-selling airliner, along with the 777, and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. The walkout likely will not stop production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are built by nonunion workers in South Carolina.
- The machinists make $75,608 per year on average, not counting overtime, and that would rise to $106,350 at the end of the four-year contract, according to Boeing. However, the deal fell short of the union's initial demand for pay raises of 40% over three years. The union also wanted to restore traditional pensions that were axed a decade ago but settled for an increase in new Boeing contributions of up to $4,160 per worker to 401(k) accounts.
- Under the rejected contract, workers would have received $3,000 lump sum payments and a reduced share of health care costs. Boeing also met a key union demand by agreeing to build its next new plane in Washington state.
- Toolmaker John Olson, 45, said he has received a 2% percent raise during his six years at Boeing. "The last contract we negotiated was 16 years ago and the company is basing the wage increases off of wages from 16 years ago," he told the AP. "They don't even keep up with the cost of inflation."
- Boeing responded to the strike announcement by saying it was "ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement." "The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members," the company said in a statement
(More
Boeing stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
