The American aircraft manufacturer hoped that the preliminary agreement announced on September 8 on a new collective agreement would be enough to eliminate any risk of strike action.
In turmoil for months, Boeing risks facing a strike starting Friday that would freeze production of its flagship plane, the 737, and the 777 wide-body aircraft, if the 33,000 union members in the Seattle area reject the proposed new collective agreement. A preliminary agreement was announced on September 8, the result of several months of negotiations between the management of the aeronautical giant and the local branch of the machinists’ union (IAM).
This new agreement, which is to replace the one in force for the past sixteen years, provides for a 25% wage increase over four years as well as a commitment to invest in the region. And in particular, the construction of the next plane in the historic birthplace of the aircraft manufacturer which would ensure jobs for several decades. Boeing hoped that these concessions would be enough to eliminate any risk of strike action, while its financial situation has been precarious since the crash of two 737 MAX 8s in 2018 and 2019 (346 deaths) and a multitude of production quality problems. But the reaction of IAM members has dampened these hopes. A message posted Sunday on the union’s Facebook page, announcing the preliminary agreement, received hundreds of comments, many negative and calling for a strike. It has since been removed.
Televisions showed daily gatherings of workers in factories, to protest against wage measures that they consider inadequate in the face of inflation. “We got everything we could”assured Jon Holden, president of IAM-District 751, to members. “We recommend ratification because we cannot guarantee that we will achieve more by striking.”he noted. The disgruntled argue that the salary increase is too far from the union’s demands (+40% initially) and that the pension section is unsatisfactory. In an interview with Seattle Times Posted on Monday evening, Jon Holden said: “I think that (…) our members will approve the strike”.
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‘Hard to sell’ deal
Aviation specialist Leeham News called the deal a “hard to sell”. Il “has made progress on priority issues for members but remains far from the objectives set upstream by the union in most of them”he noted, anticipating a rejection. But he remained uncertain about the likelihood of reaching the two-thirds necessary to launch a work stoppage as soon as the agreement expires at midnight on Thursday. However, if a simple majority rejects the collective agreement but the two-thirds threshold is not reached to launch a strike, it will be ratified “by default”according to the union regulations.
Stephanie Pope, president of Boeing Commercial Aviation (BCA), also stepped up to defend the bill, saying it provides for the largest pay increase ever granted, despite the planemaker’s debt of some $60 billion. “We gave our all”she assured in a message to employees. “It is no secret that our business is going through a difficult period, partly because of our own past mistakes. (…) A strike would jeopardize our joint recovery.”reacted in a press release the new CEO of Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, who succeeded Dave Calhoun on August 8, and committed to “reset” the relationship with the IAM.
Boeing has been under increased scrutiny since an in-flight incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in early January that followed a series of compliance and quality control issues and revived questions about the same deficiencies raised after the two crashes. The planemaker has been placed under watch by the FAA, which has also indefinitely capped production of the 737.
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