Boeing workers overwhelmingly reject contract, prepare to strike

More than 30,000 Boeing workers were set to strike Friday, halting production of most of the company’s aircraft after staff overwhelmingly rejected a new labor contract.

It’s a costly development for the manufacturer that has struggled to ramp up production and restore its reputation following safety crises.

Workers in the Seattle area and in Oregon voted 94.6% against a tentative agreement that Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers unveiled Sunday. The workers voted 96% in favor of a strike, far more than the two-thirds vote required for a work stoppage.

“We strike at midnight,” said IAM District 751 President Jon Holden at a press conference where he announced the vote’s results. He characterized it as an “unfair labor practice strike,” alleging that factory workers had experienced “discriminatory conduct, coercive questioning, unlawful surveillance and we had unlawful promise of benefits.”

He said Boeing needs to bargain in good faith.

Boeing didn’t immediately comment, but Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane unit, told machinists earlier this week the tentative deal was the “best contract we’ve ever presented.”

“In past negotiations, the thinking was we should hold something back so we can ratify the contract on a second vote,” she said. “We talked about that strategy this time, but we deliberately chose a new path.”

The tentative proposal included 25% wage increases and other improvements to health-care and retirement benefits, though the union had sought raises of about 40%. Workers had complained about the agreement, saying that it didn’t cover the increased cost of living.

The vote is a blow to CEO Kelly Ortberg, who has been in the top job for five weeks. A day before the vote, he had urged workers to accept the contract and not to strike, saying that it would jeopardize the company’s recovery.

Under the tentative agreement, Boeing had promised to build its next commercial jet in the Seattle area, a bid to win over workers after the company moved the 787 Dreamliner production to a non-union factory in South Carolina.

The agreement, if approved, would have been the first fully negotiated contract for Boeing machinists in 16 years. Boeing workers went on strike in 2008 for nearly two months.

The ultimate financial impact of this strike will depend on how long it lasts.

Jefferies aerospace analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu estimated a 30-day cash impact from a strike could be a $1.5 billion hit for Boeing and said it “could destabilize suppliers and supply chains.” She forecast the tentative agreement would have had an annual impact of $900 million if passed.

Boeing has burned through about $8 billion so far this year and has mounting debt. Production has fallen short of expectations as the company works to stamp out manufacturing flaws and faces other industry-wide problems such as supply and labor shortages.

A blowout of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 at the start of the year has brought additional federal scrutiny of Boeing’s production lines.