(New York) Boeing, which has been in turmoil for months, is likely to face a strike starting Friday that would freeze production of its flagship 737 and the 777 wide-body jet 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% salary increase over four years as well as a commitment to investment in the region, and in particular, the construction of the next aircraft in the historic birthplace of the aircraft manufacturer, which would provide jobs for several decades.
Boeing had hoped that these concessions would be enough to avert any risk of strike action, as 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.
However, the reaction of IAM members has dampened those 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 get,” Jon Holden, president of IAM-District 751, assured members.
“We recommend ratification because we cannot guarantee that we will achieve more by striking,” he said.
The disgruntled argue that the salary increase is too far removed from the union’s demands (+40% initially) and that the pensions section is unsatisfactory.
In an interview with The Seattle Times published Monday night, Mr. Holden said: “I think […] Our members will approve the strike.”
Rejection
Aviation website Leeham News called the deal a “tough sell”.
It “marked 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.
However, it remained uncertain whether it would be possible to reach 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 strike, it will be ratified “by default”, according to the union’s 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’s no secret that our business is going through a difficult time, partly because of our own past mistakes. […] “A strike would jeopardize our shared recovery,” Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who took over from Dave Calhoun on August 8, said in a statement, pledging to “reset” the relationship with the IAM.
A wind of unionization is blowing across the United States, with negotiations in particular at Starbucks and attempts to join union organizations among foreign automobile manufacturers present in the country.
And the three historic auto groups – Ford, General Motors, Stellantis – suffered an unprecedented six-week strike in the fall of 2023. The logistics giant UPS escaped it in extremis, as did the airline industry (pilots, hostesses/stewards).
“The balance of power is shifting in favor of employees,” said Harry Katz, a labor relations expert at Cornell University.
Boeing has been under increased scrutiny since an in-flight incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in early January.
Coming after a series of compliance and quality control issues, it revived questions about the same shortcomings raised after the two crashes. The planemaker was put under scrutiny by the FAA, which also indefinitely capped production of the 737.