A major worker’s union is carrying out a strike at Boeing, and it “could go on for a while,” according to the union’s leader.
On Saturday, Jon Holden, the head of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), told National Public Radio that the workers are very confident they’ll be able to achieve an improved pension and larger wage increases, so they plan on holding out until they do.
There are more than 30,000 members of the union who started striking on Friday after members overwhelmingly voted to shoot down the latest contract offer from the company. These workers are stationed at plants in Portland and Seattle, and help to produce many jets for the company, including its 737 MAX.
Negotiators representing the union and the company are expected to resume talks at some point this week, which are being overseen by U.S. federal mediators. This comes after more than 94% of the union membership voted to reject Boeing’s initial contract offer, which Holden originally endorsed.
The priorities of the union’s membership, according to Holden, are having a defined-benefit pension scheme restored — something the union lost during contract negotiations with the company more than 10 years ago — as well as higher wage increases.
As the union leader told NPR:
“We have the most leverage and the most power at the most opportune time that we’ve ever had in our history, and our members are expecting us to use it.
“I know that our members are confident. They’re standing shoulder to shoulder and they’re ready. So it (the strike) could go on for a while.”
The original deal that Boeing proposed included pay raises of 25% spread out over the next four years. The company also was committed to building its next commercial jet near Seattle, as long as that new plane program began during that four-year period.
Union members expressed their frustration with that proposal, saying that Boeing was also removing performance bonuses in that offer, which essentially would wipe away half of the salary increases the company was proposing.
As a result of the reports of a potentially long standoff with the union, Boeing’s stock price dropped 3.7% last Friday. The company has struggled mightily in 2024, with its stock price losing nearly 40% of its value.
In the process, Boeing has lost about $58 billion in market value in that timeframe.
Boeing has experienced a lot of financial troubles recently, with nearly $60 billion in total debt. If the pause on production of planes at the two major plants on the West Coast continues for a long time, it could end up hurting major airlines that use Boeing jets, as well as suppliers that manufacture the parts that Boeing needs to build the planes.
It’s certainly not been a good year for Boeing, and things look like they could get a lot worse quickly.
