Union endorsement, new airplane agreement likely won’t avoid Boeing strike

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HEAR FROM THE AIR CURRENT

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In the hours before sunrise in Washington state on Sept. 8, Boeing and its largest union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District Lodge 751, announced what they both called a “historic” agreement on a contract that sought to reset the decades-long adversarial relationship inside the plane maker’s own four walls.

The company and the union leadership hailed the tentative agreement, calling it the best offer Boeing has made, and the machinists have negotiated, in its history. But reaction by the union members who build Boeing’s airplanes quickly turned sour with widespread calls for a rejection of the contract, which many of them say falls short on its economic offer. 

“We have achieved everything we could in bargaining, short of a strike. We recommended acceptance because we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike. But that is your decision to make and is a decision that we will protect and support, no matter what,” wrote District 751 President Jon Holden on Sept. 9 in response to public reaction. Holden told The Seattle Times on Monday he expected the contract to be rejected.

Related: Flight 1282’s postscript is prologue for Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg

The current contract expires at 11:59 pm on Sept. 12. The machinists will vote on the offer on Thursday, Sept. 12 and have two questions on their ballot. First, whether to approve or reject the contract. And second, whether or not to strike. The contract can be approved by a simple majority vote, but two-thirds of the union’s 33,000 members must vote to authorize a strike — which, if agreed to, would be the first in 16 years. Crucially, if the contract is not approved and the strike is not authorized by a two-thirds’ majority of those voting, the tentative agreement will be ratified.

Before the tentative agreement was reached, on Sept. 7 the union posted an update online, saying that “the company and the Union are far apart from reaching an agreement” and that it expected Boeing’s “last, best, and final offer very soon.”

Related: Read the complete text of the tentative agreement (PDF)

That public messaging from the union, after almost a month of nonstop negotiations at a downtown Seattle hotel, appeared to shift rapidly with Boeing’s proposal that ultimately won the union’s endorsement just 28 hours after the Sept. 7 update. That agreement included a 25% general wage increase over four years (including a 22.7% to 42.3% increase in minimum wage rates depending on labor grade), capped health insurance share for workers at 15% of the cost of each plan, accelerated climb up the pay scales, provided up to $4,160 in additional retirement contribution per year, added 12-week paid parental leave for the first time, reduced mandatory overtime and bolstered defined contribution spending for members’ retirement.

Perhaps the most important single provision sought by the union was a commitment to build Boeing’s next all-new airplane (still yet to be defined or launched) in facilities where its represented members work — if the agreement is ratified before contract’s expiration and the new airplane is given a green light by Boeing’s board of directors before Sept. 7, 2028.

“This proposal helps keep our legacy alive,” wrote Holden in the announcement of the tentative agreement.

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