Boeing workers vote to authorize a massive strike – Technologist

More bad news for Boeing. Under fire from critics, targeted by aviation regulators for problems with production quality and shaken in recent months by repeated incidents involving its aircraft, the manufacturer based in Seattle is now threatened by a mass walkout by its workers. On Wednesday, July 17, some 20,000 to 25,000 employees, mainly machinists, voted 99.9% in favor of authorizing a strike if negotiations between their union, IAM-District 751, and management fail. In total, Boeing employs just over 60,000 people.

“Are you willing to strike to get the improvements you deserve? I know that you are! We’ve been preparing for over 10 years”, Jon Holden, president of District 751, told the tens of thousands of Boeing workers gathered in a downtown Seattle stadium on Wednesday. At the call of their union, they decided to put pressure on the aircraft manufacturer. It should be said that the negotiations are dragging on. They began in March, and at the time, Boeing optimistically bet that they would wrap up quickly. This didn’t happen. Four months later, the discussions are still getting nowhere. But time is now of the essence. The 16-year-old collective bargaining agreement expires at midnight on September 12. It absolutely must be replaced.

In addition to updating their agreement, the aircraft manufacturer’s 32,000 workers are also calling for a significant increase in their compensation. The union is demanding a “substantial” pay raise – at least a 40% increase over three years. Unprecedentedly, it is the union that finds itself in a position of strength. First of all, as District 751 pointed out, wages have “been stagnant the last eight years,” with only four small 1% increases granted over that period, despite “massive inflation.”

To make their demands succeed, workers and unions point to the steady decline in unemployment that began during Donald Trump’s term (2017-2021) and has continued during Joe Biden’s. It has not escaped them that the labor shortage has already benefited other categories of employees. For example, pilots at several US airlines, such as Delta Airlines and United Airlines, have already received pay raises of over 40% since the summer of 2023.

Continued existence under threat

Moreover, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, pushed out because of his poor results, admitted to a US Senate subcommittee in June that Boeing employees would “definitely get a raise.” He will leave his position at the end of 2024 with a golden parachute of around $33 million (€30 million).

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