Striking workers at Boeing will vote Wednesday on a new contract proposal that calls for a 35% pay increase over four years, the company and the union confirmed Saturday, potentially ending a costly five-week strike.
About 33,000 unionized West Coast workers at Boeing, most of them in Washington state, have been on strike since September 13, and the work stoppage has halted production of the manufacturer’s best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 widebody jets, increasing pressure on the company. The company’s already fragile finances.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local said the latest offer includes a $7,000 certification bonus, a reinstated incentive plan and enhanced contributions to workers’ 401(k) retirement plans, including a one-time contribution of $5,000 plus up to 12% of contributions. Employers. 751.
Boeing said on Saturday that it looked forward to “our employees voting on the negotiated proposal.” However, there is no guarantee that workers will accept the offer after they overwhelmingly rejected the initial proposal.
“The future of this contract is in your hands,” the union told workers the day before.
Before that, the US Chamber of Commerce on the social networking site
On October 8, Boeing withdrew its enhanced offer, which included a 30% pay increase over four years, after the collapse of talks that were also attended by federal mediators.
The union is seeking a 40% increase and the restoration of the defined benefit pension, which was not presented in the new contract proposal.
Two senior union officials in Seattle told Reuters they believe members will vote in favor of the deal, although they expect backlash from older workers who have been demanding that a defined-benefit pension be returned to Boeing.
In September, nearly 95% of West Coast workers rejected a tentative agreement offering a 25% pay increase over four years that had been approved by union officials, triggering a strike.
That first tentative deal also included a $3,000 signing bonus, which some Boeing insiders told Reuters was too low, given that previous deals had contained bonuses of at least $5,000.
The union said Saturday in a social media post that with the help of acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su, they received a “negotiated proposal” and told striking workers that it “deserves your attention.”
Su was in Seattle on Monday in her first in-person effort to help hammer out a new contract for Boeing and returned Thursday evening to resume efforts after a trip to Detroit.
A spokesman for Su said Friday that the secretary was in Seattle for discussions with both parties and met with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and the union.
While some of the reactions on social media Saturday afternoon were supportive of the new deal, it is not yet clear how workers will vote.
A White House spokesperson said: “President Joe Biden believes the collective bargaining process is the best way to achieve good outcomes for workers, and the final decision on the contract will be up to unionized workers.”
Boeing announced last Friday that it would cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global employees, and take a $5 billion charge, continuing a year of turmoil for the company since a new Alaska Airlines ALK.N 737 MAX 9 plane was involved in a mid-air accident. . emergency.
Boeing announced a window for equity and debt offerings worth up to $25 billion over the next three years, in addition to a $10 billion credit agreement.
Boeing has faced ongoing pressure since the door panel of a new 737 Max 9 plane took off in the air in January, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to bar the planemaker from ramping up production. The Federal Aviation Administration opened a new safety investigation into Boeing on Friday.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a charge of criminal fraud conspiracy and agreed to pay at least $243.6 million after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
The labor conflict is expected to have a negative impact on the October employment report, which will be published days before the US presidential election on November 5.
Economists estimate that the strike and ongoing furloughs of non-striking workers as well as temporary layoffs at Boeing suppliers have cut up to 50,000 jobs from nonfarm payrolls this month.