Workers picket outside a Boeing facility during a strike in Everett, Washington, United States, Monday, September 16, 2024. Boeing factory workers have left their jobs for the first time in 16 years and manufacturing across the plane maker’s Seattle has been halted. It became a hub after members of the largest union voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract offer and go on strike.
M. Scott Brower | Bloomberg | getty images
boeing It withdrew its contract offer to 33,000 mechanics who have been on strike since mid-September, saying further negotiations “make no sense at this point”.
The mechanics walked off the job Sept. 13 after overwhelmingly rejecting a tentative labor agreement and halting production of most Boeing aircraft made in the Puget Sound region. Boeing later appeased the offer with increased pay, ratification bonuses and other improvements, but the union rejected it, claiming it had not been negotiated.
Talks broke down again this week, meaning the strike will continue. S&P Global Ratings issued a negative outlook on the aerospace giant’s credit rating on Tuesday, saying the suspension would cost Boeing more than $1 billion a month.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope said at talks this week that the company had increased contract wages but that the union had not considered that proposal.
“The union has made non-negotiable demands that go far beyond what we can accept to remain competitive as a business,” Pope said in a staff memo.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said Tuesday that Boeing has refused to improve wages, retirement plans, vacation or sick leave.
