Boeing workers reject deal with management, opt for strike

Boeing workers belonging to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) struck work on Thursday, rejecting a four-year contract the company signed with the union.

About 33,000 workers belonging to the IAM walked out of their factories in the Seattle and Portland areas, virtually stopping production at the troubled plane maker.

Workers rejected the contract with 94.6 per cent voting against while 96 per cent of the union members voted in favour of a strike - the first at Boeing in 16 years.

The workers' first strike since 2008 comes as the plane maker is under heavy scrutiny from U.S. regulators and customers after a door panel blew off a 737 MAX jet mid-air in January.

For Boeing, which is saddled with output delays and mounting debt, in the wake of the 5 January incident when the door plug of a 737 Max operated by Alaska Airlines blew off shortly after takeoff, the strike comes as yet another blow.

The company has been making losses for the 6 years starting 2019 and has accumulated core operating losses of more than $33 billion by the second quarter of the current year.

The strike would stop production of commercial aircraft at one of America’s biggest manufacturers, and its largest exporter, further dampening US economic outlook. A longer strike will have repercussion across the US with its effects on suppliers spread across all 50 states.

Boeing employs 150,000 people across the US, and supports 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs. The company also makes annual contribution of about $79 billion to US economy.

What is baffling is how a deal that the union described as the best ever negotiated with Boeing management with assured 25 per cent minimum increase in workers’ salaries and increased job security, was rejected wholesale by union members. 

There seems to be a disconnect between leaders and the union members who fear a Boeing move to de unionise workers. 

The vote was not just against the terms of the 4-year contract, it had more to deal with layoffs and the shift of some workers to non-unionised plant of the company, which created a wedge between workers and leaders.

Yet, there is hope as the union and the Boeing management would soon be back at the negotiating table as both want a solution to Boeing’s current problems and the workers’ woes.