Washington (AFP) – Boeing and its striking Seattle-area workers have reached a tentative deal to end a more than month-long stoppage, the union said Saturday. Boeing confirmed a tentative deal was reached and said it includes a 35 percent pay raise over four years and a one-time signing bonus of $7,000. Union members will vote Wednesday on the proposal.
The strike began September 13 in a dispute over pay and other compensation issues, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said on social media platform X in a message to its members. “It warrants presenting to the members and is worthy of your consideration,” IAM Union District 751 said. The strike by some 33,000 unionized workers, mainly in Washington state, halted work at two Seattle-area assembly plants and production of its 737 MAX planes. The workers were seeking hefty wage hikes and other gains, complaining of more than a decade of near-flat wages amid inflation. Wage increases had been a stumbling block. Boeing first offered a 25 percent raise, and then 30 percent, while the union wanted 40 percent.
Workers had also been pressing for the restoration of a traditional employer-paid pension plan, which Boeing withdrew in 2014, but they did not get it. Such retirement plans had been a staple of the American workplace for decades but they are now rare, as the onus for preparing for old age has shifted from employer to employee. Instead, among the sweeteners Boeing is now offering are enhanced contributions to largely worker-funded retirement schemes called 401(k) plans.
The strike has cost an estimated $7.6 billion in direct losses — including at least $4.35 billion for Boeing and almost $2 billion for its suppliers — the Anderson Economic Group consultancy said Friday. Boeing said in a one-sentence statement, “We look forward to our employees voting on the negotiated proposal.” The work stoppage added to the company’s litany of problems. Boeing sank into further turmoil in January when a window panel blew out mid-flight on an Alaska Airlines plane, necessitating an emergency landing on a 737 MAX, the aircraft involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.
That led to the Federal Aviation Administration tightening oversight of Boeing’s production processes, capping the company’s output. This week Boeing unveiled measures meant to replenish its cash flow, including an intention to raise up to $25 billion, as it navigated recurrent production problems and the strike. Last week, Boeing said it planned to cut 10 percent of its workforce as it projected a large third-quarter loss in the wake of the labor action. The cuts of 17,000 positions globally will include executives, managers, and employees, according to Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg, who added that the company must “reset our workforce levels to align with our financial reality.”
In other fallout from the strike, Boeing has said it is pushing back first delivery of its 777X plane to 2026 from 2025. The much-delayed jet was originally supposed to enter service in January 2020.
© 2024 AFP
