Boeing strike ends as workers accept new deal
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The news: Boeing’s machinists union, representing 33,000 members, voted 59% in favour of a new contract, ending a costly 53-day strike for the aerospace giant.
The numbers: The contract includes a 43% wage increase over four years, a USD12,000 ($18,110) ratification bonus, and increased retirement contributions. It does not restore a traditional pension plan, which was frozen a decade ago.
Union members will begin returning to work by 12 November.
The agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, also includes a commitment to build Boeing’s next commercial airplane in Seattle.
The context: According to Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based research firm, financial losses during the strike reached an estimated USD6.5 billion for Boeing, impacting suppliers and halting production of its 737 Max and freighter models.
But the strike’s impact was broader, triggering layoffs at many of Boeing’s 10,000 suppliers across all 50 states. Total economic losses to the US economy are estimated to have topped USD11.5 billion.
What they said: Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, hired shortly before the strike, said the company would “move forward by listening and working together.”
“While the past few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of the same team. We will only move forward by listening and working together. There is much work ahead to return to the excellence that made Boeing an iconic company,” said Ortberg in a statement.
“This is an important time in our history, and like generations before us, we will face into the moment together, and stronger as one team.”
President Joe Biden congratulated the company and the union on the deal. “Good contracts benefit workers, businesses and consumers,” he said in a statement.
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers leaders Jon Holden and Brandon Bryant said: “Livable wages and benefits that can support a family are essential – not optional – and this strike underscored that reality. This contract will have a positive and generational impact on the lives of workers at Boeing and their families.”
