{"id":359391,"date":"2024-10-24T09:27:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T13:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/?post_type=news&p=359391"},"modified":"2024-10-25T09:17:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T13:17:00","slug":"no-end-for-boeing-labor-strike-as-workers-reject-latest-contract-proposal","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/news\/no-end-for-boeing-labor-strike-as-workers-reject-latest-contract-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing workers reject latest contract proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEATTLE (AP) \u2014 Boeing factory workers voted against the company\u2019s latest contract offer and remain on the picket lines six weeks into a strike<\/a> that has stopped production of the aerospace giant\u2019s bestselling jetliners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local union leaders in Seattle said 64% of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who cast ballots Wednesday voted against accepting the contract offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter 10 years of sacrifices, we still have ground to make up, and we\u2019re hopeful to do so by resuming negotiations promptly,\u201d Jon Holden, the head of the IAM District 751 union, said in a statement Wednesday evening. \u201cThis is workplace democracy \u2014 and also clear evidence that there are consequences when a company mistreats its workers year after year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for Boeing said officials didn\u2019t have a comment on the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The labor standoff comes during an already challenging year for Boeing, which became the focus of multiple federal investigations after a door panel blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike has deprived the company of much-needed cash that it gets from delivering new planes to airlines. On Wednesday, the company reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union machinists assemble the 737 Max<\/a>, Boeing\u2019s best-selling airliner, along with the 777 or \u201ctriple-seven\u201d jet and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest rejected offer included pay raises of 35% over four years. The version that union members rejected when they voted to strike last month featured a 25% increase over four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union, which initially demanded 40% pay boosts over three years, said the annual raises in the revised offer would total 39.8%, when compounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing has said that average annual pay for machinists is currently $75,608.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing workers told Associated Press reporters that a sticking point was the company\u2019s refusal to restore a traditional pension plan<\/a> that was frozen a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pension should have been the top priority. We all said that was our top priority, along with wage,\u201d Larry Best, a customer-quality coordinator with 38 years at Boeing, said on a picket line outside a Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. \u201cNow is the prime opportunity in a prime time to get our pension back, and we all need to stay out and dig our heels in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theresa Pound, a 16-year Boeing veteran, also voted against the deal. She said the health plan has gotten more expensive and her expected pension benefits would not be enough, even when combined with a 401(k) retirement account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have put more time in this place than I was ever required to. I have literally blood, sweat and tears from working at this company,\u201d the 37-year-old said. \u201cI\u2019m looking at working until I\u2019m 70 because I have this possibility that I might not get to retire based on what\u2019s happening in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike started Sept. 13 and has served as an early test for Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who became chief executive in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his first remarks to investors, Ortberg said earlier Wednesday that Boeing needs \u201ca fundamental culture change,\u201d and he laid out his plan to revive the aerospace giant after years of heavy losses and damage to its reputation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ortberg repeated in a message to employees and on the earnings call that he wants to \u201creset\u201d management\u2019s relationship with labor \u201cso we don\u2019t become so disconnected in the future.\u201d He said company leaders need to spend more time on factory floors<\/a> to know what is going on and \u201cprevent the festering of issues and work better together to identify, fix, and understand root cause.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ortberg, a Boeing outsider who previously ran Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and flight controls for airline and military planes, said Boeing is at a crossroads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe trust in our company has eroded. We\u2019re saddled with too much debt. We\u2019ve had serious lapses in our performance across the company, which have disappointed many of our customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Ortberg also highlighted the company\u2019s strengths, including a backlog of airplane orders valued at a half-trillion dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will take time to return Boeing to its former legacy, but with the right focus and culture, we can be an iconic company and aerospace leader once again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, Ortberg announced large-scale layoffs<\/a> \u2014 about 17,000 people \u2014 and a plan to raise enough cash<\/a> to avoid a bankruptcy filing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing hasn\u2019t had a profitable year since 2018, and Wednesday\u2019s numbers represented the second-worst quarter in the manufacturer\u2019s history. Boeing lost $6.17 billion in the period ended Sept. 30, with an adjusted loss of $10.44 per share. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research had expected a loss of $10.34 per share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue totaled $17.84 billion, matching Wall Street estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company burned nearly $2 billion in cash, in the quarter, weakening its balance sheet, which is loaded down with $58 billion in debt. Chief Financial Officer Brian West said the company will not generate positive cash flow until the second half of next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing\u2019s fortunes soured after two of its 737 Max jetliners<\/a> crashed in October 2018 and March 2019, killing 346 people. Safety concerns were renewed this January, when a panel blew off a Max during an Alaska Airlines flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ortberg needs to convince federal regulators that Boeing is fixing its safety culture<\/a> and is ready to boost production of the 737 Max \u2014 a crucial step to bring in much-needed cash. That can\u2019t happen, however, until the striking workers return to their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in the strike, Boeing made what it termed its \u201cbest and final\u201d offer<\/a>. The proposal included pay raises of 30% over four years, and angered union leaders because the company announced it to the striking workers through the media and set a short ratification deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boeing backed down and gave the union<\/a> more time. However, many workers maintained the offer still wasn\u2019t good enough. The company withdrew the proposed contract on Oct. 9 after negotiations broke down, and the two sides announced the latest proposal on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles Fromong, a mechanic who has worked at Boeing for 38 years, said Wednesday night after the results were announced that the company needs to take care of its workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel sorry for the young people,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve spent my life here and I\u2019m getting ready to go, but they deserve a pension and I deserve an increase.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last Boeing strike, in 2008, lasted eight weeks and cost the company about $100 million daily in deferred revenue. A 1995 strike lasted 10 weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boeing\u00a0factory workers voted against the company\u2019s latest contract offer and remain on the picket lines\u00a0six weeks into a strike\u00a0that has stopped jetliner production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":332145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[99318],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359391","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oem","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/359391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}