Boeing workers from District 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers gather in a picket line near the entrance to a Boeing manufacturing facility on the day of the vote on a new contract proposal during an ongoing strike in Renton, Washington, U.S., Oct. 23. 2024.
David Ryder | Reuters
Boeing and the workers' union have agreed on a new negotiating offer to raise workers' wages and potentially end a crippling strike that began seven weeks ago with a vote on the new proposal scheduled for Monday.
The union called on the workers to agree to the contract. It is urgent for Boeing to get workers back to factories as the company struggles with mounting losses.
“In every negotiation and every strike, there comes a point where we have gotten everything we can through negotiations and through the restraint of our workforce,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 said Thursday. “We are at this point now and risk declining or reduced supply in the future.”
The new proposal calls for across-the-board wage increases of 38% over four years, up from a previous offer of 35%, bringing the wage increases to nearly 44%, the union said Thursday. It also gives workers the option to receive a one-time ratification bonus of $12,000 or elect an earlier offer of a $7,000 ratification bonus and a $5,000 401(k) contribution .
The union said it “would not be right to ask its members to strike for a longer period when we have achieved so many successes”.
Boeing's more than 32,000 machinists, most of whom are based in the Seattle area, walked off their jobs on Sept. 13 after rejecting a tentative agreement. Earlier this month they rejected another proposal to extend the strike.
Boeing said Thursday that machinist salaries will average $119,309 at the end of the contract.
“It’s time for us all to come together again and focus on rebuilding the business and delivering the best aircraft in the world,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a note to employees on Friday. “Many people depend on us.”
He urged workers to vote “as the results of the vote will affect us all.”
The Biden administration interfered in negotiations during the strike, which has halted most aircraft production at Boeing, a top U.S. exporter. Acting Labor Minister Julie Su met with the company and the union this week.
The Boeing strike hurt U.S. employment numbers in October, according to Friday's U.S. jobs report, the latest before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
President Joe Biden congratulated the union and Boeing on the new contract proposal.
“Boeing’s machinists have made sacrifices over the years and deserve a strong contract,” he said in a statement Friday, shortly after the jobs report was released.
Read more CNBC airline news
Ortberg said on his first conference call last week since taking the job in August that the company had been “working feverishly to find a solution that works for the company and meets the needs of our employees.” Hours later, workers rejected a negotiated proposal.
Boeing engineers have repeatedly pushed for higher compensation than the cost of living in the Seattle area – where tech giants are popular Microsoft And Amazon have increased the number of employees – has increased dramatically in recent years.
Under the new contract proposal, Boeing promised, as in previous versions, to build its next plane in the Puget Sound area. A sore point among workers is that Boeing moved production of the 787 Dreamliner to a non-union factory in South Carolina.
The strike has further set back Boeing executives' plans to stabilize the aerospace giant as it reels from the fallout from production deficiencies and the fallout from safety problems, most recently a door stopper that popped off in mid-air earlier this year Boeing 737 Max 9 flew out this year.
Boeing lost more than $6 billion in its most recent quarter and warned it would continue to burn cash through 2025.
Comments are closed.