Boeing workers on the West Coast of the United States have voted overwhelmingly to strike in the latest blow to the beleaguered aircraft giant.
Some 33,000 machinists at the company’s factories in Seattle and Portland, Oregon on Thursday voted to walk off the job from midnight after rejecting management’s latest offer for better pay and conditions.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said that 94.6 percent of its members voted to reject the contract and 96 percent backed a strike.
Boeing’s offer would have raised pay by 25 percent over four years, reduced workers’ share of healthcare bills, increased the company’s 401(k) contributions, and provided a $3,000 ratification bonus.
The aircraft maker’s proposed deal also included a commitment to build its next jet at its facilities in greater Seattle after the company angered workers by moving production of the 787 Dreamliner to a non-unionised plant in South Carolina.
Workers had sought a 40 percent wage rise, the restoration of a defined-benefit pension plan axed in 2014, and a stronger guarantee that future production would not be moved out of the Seattle region.
Jon Holden, IAM’s lead negotiator in the contract talks, said workers had spoken “loud and clear”.
“This is about respect, this is about addressing the past, and this is about fighting for our future,” Holden said.
“We strike at midnight.”
The strike, the first by Boeing workers since 2008, halts production of the best-selling 737 MAX and other aircraft as the company grapples with output delays, heavy financial losses and intense scrutiny of its safety record.
The disruption comes just weeks after new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg took the helm with a pledge to “reset” the company’s relations with the union.
Ortberg had on Wednesday urged workers not to strike, warning it would “put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together”.
Boeing said on Thursday that it is committed to “resetting our relationship” with its workers and the union.
“And we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement,” a spokesperson said.
Adam Smith, a Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives representing Washington State, urged Boeing to do more for its employees, while calling on the sides to return to the negotiating table.
“Across corporate America, so much of the wealth has wound up in the hands of so few people,” Smith said in a statement.
“Large corporations have increasingly prioritised their own profits and shareholders at the expense of workers. It is crucial that Boeing behaves as a responsible steward for its employees, so that every employee at their company is respected with fair wages and working conditions.”
Boeing, which employs some 150,000 people across the US, has been struggling to regain its footing since fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
In January, a mid-air blowout of a door plug on a 737 Max jet reignited questions about the company’s safety culture, prompting aviation authorities to put a cap on production of the aircraft.
Boeing reported a $1.4bn loss in the April-June quarter, following a $355m net loss for the first three months of the year.
The company last reported a profit – of $160m – in the second quarter of 2022.
