(Seattle) Several thousand machinists employed by Boeing in the Seattle area in the United States voted Wednesday to strike if wage negotiations fail in September.
The IAM-District 751 union, which represents more than 30,000 employees of the American aircraft manufacturer in this region, announced that 99.9% of voters – refusing to indicate their number – had given their green light during a vote organized in a huge stadium in the city.
According to the union, between 20,000 and 25,000 people attended the meeting, during which several union officials spoke.
“Are you ready to strike for the improvements you deserve? I know you are! We’ve been preparing for this for 10 years,” Jon Holden, president of District 751, the Seattle branch of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union, told the crowd.
PHOTO KEVIN CLARK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
District 751 Union President Jon Holden
“We are also fighting to change this company. We have to save this company from itself,” he said, referring to Boeing’s production and quality problems.
“They put our livelihood at risk. It’s about our jobs. It’s about our heritage. It’s about our reputation,” Holden continued, accusing the group’s executives of having “removed people and processes that are crucial to making a safe aircraft.”
IAM-District 751 had gone big when it booked T-Mobile Park, home to the Seattle Mariners baseball team and seating nearly 48,000.
Banners
According to some footage posted by the union on YouTube, participants held up signs with slogans such as “A yes vote is our strength” and “We want our pensions now,” while others waved towels around – as if they were playing football.
Large banners were displayed: “We deserve more 2024”, “New plane” and “Fight for more”.
District 751 primarily represents machinists at the 737 assembly plants in Renton and the 777 assembly plants in Everett. In the event of a strike, they will remain grounded.
Boeing and IAM-District 751 began negotiations on March 8 to develop a new collective agreement that will replace the sixteen-year-old agreement that expires at midnight on September 12.
“We remain optimistic that we can reach a balance between the needs of our employees and the business realities facing the group,” Boeing told AFP ahead of the vote.
Asked after the vote, the group reiterated this statement.
The union is demanding a “substantial” wage increase of at least 40% over three years, as well as better social benefits (health insurance, retirement, cost of living, etc.) and job security, Mr Holden explained to AFP.
Salaries have “stagnated for eight years”, with only four 1% increases over this period despite “massive inflation”.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun assured a Senate inquiry committee on June 16 that IAM union members would “definitely get a raise.” Without further details.
Regarding job security, another major focus of the negotiations, the union is not budging: the next plane – announced for 2035 – must absolutely be manufactured in the region.
“It’s a guarantee of employment for the next 50 years,” Holden said.
According to the IAM, negotiations have been at a standstill for several weeks.
“Silent” factory
“When we are all present at this important event, the plant will be silent,” the union warned of the meeting, as a preview of the consequences of a strike.
District W24, which represents about 1,200 Boeing employees in Portland, Oregon, has also been negotiating since March 8 and was also scheduled to vote Wednesday. The results were not immediately available.
The Grand Lodge of the IAM will now be able to prepare, if necessary, compensation for the strikers, 250 dollars per week from the third week of work stoppage.
But an effective call for a strike will require a second vote, once the deadline has passed.
The union is also trying to get at least one seat on the board of directors of the group, which is going through what could be considered the seven plagues of Egypt, “to have a say in certain changes.”
For many months, the giant has been accumulating production and quality problems on its three commercial aircraft currently on the market (737, 787 and 777), which have led to numerous investigations. Many actions are being implemented to remedy this.