Boeing’s problems explode as thousands walk off job in midnight strike

Thousands of Boeing factory workers went on strike shortly after midnight on Friday in another blow to the beleaguered airplane maker, which has spent months battling a wave of quality control crises, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) rejected a tentative agreement between Boeing and union leaders that would have established a 25% wage increase over four years, the WSJ reported. Roughly 94% of the union’s 33,000 members voted to reject the contract and 96% voted in favor of the strike — significantly more than the two-thirds majority needed for the work stoppage to move forward.

“The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members,” Boeing said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”

✊We’re fighting for every family.

✊We’re fighting for every community.

✊We’re fighting for the future of Boeing. pic.twitter.com/oGsa221TF4

— Machinists Union (@MachinistsUnion) September 13, 2024

The rejected deal would have allotted IAM workers an 11% raise this year, followed by 4% increases in 2025 and 2026, and a 6% increase in 2027, bringing the minimum hourly wage to between $20 and $37 depending on the employee’s role, the WSJ reported.

Several IAM workers claimed the wage increases were too low given the rising cost of living in the Pacific Northwest and the 16-year time period since the two groups had last reached a labor deal, according to the WSJ. The last time Boeing and the IAM agreed to a new contract was in 2008 when negotiations led to a 57-day strike that cost the company an estimated $100 million a day in work stoppages.

“While there were many important things that were in this offer, it did not bridge the gap for 16 years and going through two extensions, the threats of job loss, stagnant wages, the cost shift on healthcare and many other issues,” John Holden, the president of the IAM District 751, said after announcing the vote tally.

Boeing has been hemorrhaging cash following a series of safety issues related to its 737 MAX jet, including an Alaskan Airlines 737 that had its side door plug blow off mid-flight in January, according to the WSJ. The IAM machinists build 737, 777, and 767 jets.

Boeing posted a net loss of $355 million in the first quarter of 2024, followed by an adjusted operating loss of roughly $1.4 billion in the second.

In July, the company also pleaded guilty to criminal fraud over two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, with a congressionally mandated report by the Federal Aviation Administration finding a disconnect between Boeing executives and rank-and-file employees on safety issues. The Senate dragged the company’s ex-CEO Dave Calhoun in to testify about the incidents on June 18.

“I ask you not to sacrifice the opportunity to secure our future together, because of the frustrations of the past,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg wrote in a message to the workers prior to the vote, according to the WSJ.

The IAM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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