Late last month, St. Louis-area Boeing machinists voted down a proposed contract from the company for the fourth time by the narrowest margin so far: 51% to 49%.
The contract attempted to address union members’ concerns by adding a year of pay raises for top-paid employees, but it subtracted from attendance bonuses.
With that close call, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 strike continues into its fourth month. After the vote, the union made a counterproposal, but Boeing immediately rejected it and did not offer an alternative.
Boeing officials said the close result indicates many workers understand the value of their offer. It added that they are continuing to pursue hiring replacement workers.
The latest contract rejection by Boeing led the union to submit its second unfair labor practice charge against the company. The first complaint was submitted before the Oct. 26 vote. However, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, it’s unlikely anything will happen with these until government activity resumes.
Jake Rosenfeld, Washington University professor and labor expert, said that filing these charges is fairly routine in a strike like this, and that the company was likely prepared for them. Boeing has said the charges are unfounded.
The union’s counterproposal was a modified version of its last one, which 90% of voting members approved but the company did not accept. It made concessions on the 401(k) plan but kept the general wage increase and ratification bonus the same, which are both higher than in the most recent Boeing contract.
Even so, the union estimates that the difference between its counterproposal and the most recent Boeing contract is about $8 million more over four years. In its third quarter earnings report released Oct. 29, Boeing posted $23 billion in revenue.
“$8 million is a rounding error in the grand scheme of Boeing's operations,” Rosenfeld said. “And so it does, from an outsider's perspective, raise a question of, what exactly are we fighting about here?”
The earnings report was overall better than in past quarters, but it did show a $5.4 billion loss for the third quarter due to certification delays for its 777X aircraft. Workers at St. Louis-area Boeing facilities manufacture composite parts for the 777X.
Additionally, a U.S. military official publicly acknowledged last month that the strike has delayed deliveries of F-15EX fighter jets.
“The company hasn’t delivered a single new F-15 during this 13-week strike, and production delays are now rippling into the 777X program,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant in a statement the day the report was released. “It’s time for Boeing to end this strike, get our members back to work, and live up to the values they claim to be rebuilding.”
Source: stlpr.org
