Boeing reaches tentative deal with workers to avert strike
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Boeing's proposal, which has yet to be voted on by workers, would be the first full agreement between the company and the unions in 16 years.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK - Boeing reached a tentative deal on Sept 8 for a new contract with unions representing over 33,000 workers, a significant step towards avoiding a strike that threatened to shut down production when the existing agreement expires later this week.
The proposal, which has yet to be voted on by workers, would be the first full agreement between the company and the unions in 16 years and would deliver pay rises of 25 per cent over the four-year life of the contract.
That falls short of the 40 per cent the unions had sought, but includes other victories, including improvements to healthcare and retirement benefits, and a promise to build the firm’s next commercial airplane in the Seattle and Portland, Oregon, regions.
If approved, the deal would resolve one of the most pressing items on the agenda of Boeing’s new chief executive Kelly Ortberg, who started a month ago.
Mr Ortberg, former head of aerospace supplier Rockwell Collins, inherited a company in crisis after a panel blew off a 737 Max jet in January.
Though no one was seriously injured, that episode reignited concerns from five years ago about the quality and safety of Boeing planes after two fatal crashes involving Max planes. It also shed light on Boeing’s shortcomings on quality control.
The leadership of the unions – District 751 and the much smaller District W24 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers – urged their members to approve the deal.
The unions mainly represent production workers who build commercial and military airplanes.
District 751 is by far Boeing’s largest union, representing the vast majority of workers governed by the proposed and existing contracts.
Many of the workers live in the Seattle area, which is home to most of Boeing’s commercial airplane production.
The firm also opened a factory more than a decade ago in South Carolina, where non-union workers perform final assembly of its twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner plane.
Members of the unions will vote on the deal on Sept 12, before the midnight expiration of the current contract. The vote will include two parts: one on accepting the offer and another asking to reaffirm a nearly unanimous but symbolic strike vote over the summer.
A strike is still possible as soon as Sept 13 but would require both a majority rejecting the deal and at least two-thirds reaffirming the earlier strike vote. NYTIMES
