The two sides traded barbs after union members rejected the company’s fourth contract offer on Sunday, which Boeing said failed “by the slimmest of margins, 51% to 49%.” With the work stoppage now in its 84th day, striking mechanics have now missed five paychecks and Boeing has fallen behind on some fighter jet deliveries.
“Boeing claimed they listened to their employees – the result of today’s vote proves they have not,” International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union International President Brian Bryant said in a statement announcing the outcome.
The union response is “misleading,” Boeing said in a statement, adding: “With the close result and the increased interest we’re hearing from teammates who want to cross the picket, it’s clear many understand the value of our offer.”
The 3,200 members of the IAM District 837 began their strike in the early hours of Aug. 4. The strife has drawn rebukes from Senators Josh Hawley and Bernie Sanders and disrupted production of Boeing military aircraft such as the F-15EX fighter jet.
Investors will be looking for more detail on the financial ramifications when Boeing Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg hosts an earnings call on Oct. 29. The dispute is also being monitored by the union representing Boeing’s 19,000 engineers and technical workers, whose contract expires next October.
The strike has affected F-15 deliveries to the US Air Force’s Portland National Guard base and will delay international deliveries next year, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a report to clients on Sunday.
The first labor strife in about three decades has been acrimonious at times, with the union filing an unfair labor complaint against Boeing, and the Arlington, Virginia-based manufacturer holding job fairs and hiring replacement workers.
Like a previous offer rejected by IAM District 837, Boeing’s latest deal included an average wage increase of 24% over five years.
But the company ratcheted up its signing bonus by 75%, offering workers a $3,000 lump sum payment, restricted shares worth $3,000 and a $1,000 bonus in the contract’s fourth year. To offset some of the changes, Boeing halved the pay bump that workers receive every six months they’re on the job to 25 cents an hour.
Boeing is staffing up as it prepares to build the F-47 stealth fighter in the St. Louis area. The defense and space division generates almost a third of the company’s revenue.
