Boeing workers at three midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed voted Sunday to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago.
The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in Mascoutah, Illinois, and the Missouri cities of St Louis and St Charles is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners but threatens to complicate the aerospace company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
“Boeing claimed they listened to their employees – the result of today’s vote proves they have not,” Brian Bryant, the president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in a statement. “Boeing’s corporate executives continue to insult the very people who build the world’s most advanced military aircraft – the same planes and military systems that keep our servicemembers and nation safe.”
Boeing said it was disappointed by the result and noted the vote had been a close one. The company said in a statement that it was increasingly hearing from workers “who want to cross the picket line” and “understand the value of our offer”.
The five-year offer was largely the same as offers previously rejected by union members. The company reduced the ratification bonus but added $3,000 in Boeing shares that vest over three years and a $1,000 retention bonus in four years. It also improved wage growth for workers at the top of the pay scale in the fourth year of the contract.
“The union’s statement is misleading since the vote failed by the slimmest of margins, 51% to 49%,” Boeing’s statement read. “We are turning our focus to executing the next phase of our contingency plan in support of our customers.”
The machinists’ union acknowledged the vote was close but said in a message to members that “very few” workers have crossed the picket line.
“Our solidarity remains strong, and the company’s claim otherwise is wrong,” the union said.
Union leaders have pressed the planemaker for higher retirement plan contributions and a ratification bonus closer to the $12,000 that Boeing gave to union members on strike last year in the company’s commercial airplane division in the Pacific north-west. Boeing has argued that workers’ demands exceed the cost of living in the midwest.
Ahead of Sunday’s vote, the union told its members that it did not recommend approval of the company’s latest offer, which it said “had no meaningful improvements” to retirement benefits and wage increases for workers with more seniority.
“It’s well past time for Boeing to stop cheaping out on the workers who make its success possible and bargain a fair deal that respects their skill and sacrifice,” Bryant said.
Negotiations escalated over the summer in the days leading up to the strike, with the workers rejecting an earlier proposed agreement that included a 20% wage hike over the life of the five-year contract.
Boeing quickly countered with a modified agreement that didn’t boost the proposed pay raises but did remove a scheduling provision affecting the workers’ ability to earn overtime pay. Workers rejected that offer too and went on strike the next morning. They also voted against revised terms in September.
The company has said that it was prepared for a strike, with a contingency plan in place “to ensure our non-striking workforce can continue supporting our customers”.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security business accounts for more than one-third of the company’s revenue. Boeing is set to report its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
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