Boeing Co. workers and supporters hold signs outside the Aerospace Machinists Union District 751 lobby before a union contract vote on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Renton, Washington, U.S.
M. Scott Brauer Bloomberg | Getty Images
More than 30,000 boeing company Workers are scheduled to go on strike on Friday after employees overwhelmingly rejected a new labor contract, halting production of most of the company’s aircraft.
It’s a costly development for manufacturers who have been struggling to increase output and production restore its reputation After a security crisis.
Seattle-area and Oregon workers voted no with 94.6% tentative agreement Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers made the announcement Sunday. 96% voted in favor of a strike, far more than the two-thirds needed for a shutdown.
“We’re striking at midnight,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said at a press conference announcing the results of the vote. Describing it as an “unfair labor practices strike,” he claimed factory workers experienced “discriminatory conduct, coercive questioning, unlawful surveillance, and we were made unlawful welfare promises.”
He said Boeing needs to bargain in good faith.
Boeing had no immediate comment.
A worker walks out of a Boeing Co. manufacturing plant in Renton, Washington, U.S., Thursday, September 12, 2024.
M. Scott Brauer Bloomberg | Getty Images
The tentative proposal includes a 25% wage increase and other improvements to health care and retirement benefits, although the union had sought about a 40% raise. Workers have complained about the agreement, saying it does not cover increased living costs.
This vote is a blow CEO Kelly Ortberghe has been in the top job for five weeks. The day before the vote, he urged workers to accept the contract and not strike, saying it would jeopardize the company’s recovery.
The final financial impact of the strike will depend on how long it lasts.
Jefferies aerospace analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu estimated that the strike’s 30-day cash impact on Boeing could be as high as $1.5 billion, saying it “could destabilize suppliers and supply chains.” She projected the tentative agreement would have an annual impact of $900 million if passed.
Boeing has burned through about $8 billion so far this year and its debt is mounting. Production fell short of expectations as the company worked to eliminate manufacturing defects and faced other industry-wide issues such as supply and labor shortages.
A blowout of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft earlier this year led to additional federal scrutiny of Boeing’s production lines.
