Strike at Boeing in America – Labor Newspaper

The first strike by Boeing workers since 2008 is underway in the US Pacific Northwest, with 96 percent of Boeing machine workers voting in favor of the strike.

Seattle. About 33,000 workers at the company's factories in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon, voted to stop work at midnight on Thursday after rejecting management's latest offer for better wages and working conditions.

Boeing's offer includes a 25 percent pay raise over four years, a reduced employee share of health care costs and a $3,000 approval bonus. Also included in the offer is an increase in company 401(k) contributions. The 401(k) model is a private retirement plan co-sponsored by an employer and is therefore an important part of the American retirement system.

The planemaker's plans include a commitment to build the next jet at its Seattle-area factories after the company angered workers by moving production of the 787 Dreamliner to a non-union plant in South Carolina.

The workers demanded a 40 percent wage increase, the restoration of a defined benefit plan that was eliminated in 2014, and stronger guarantees that future production would not be moved out of the Seattle area.

Joan Holden, lead negotiator for the IAM (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) union in contract talks, said workers had made their voices heard “loud and clear”. “It's about respect, it's about coming to terms with the past and it's about fighting for our future,” Holden said.

The first strike by Boeing workers since 2008 is halting production of the best-selling 737 MAX and other planes as it faces production delays, steep financial losses and intense scrutiny of its safety record.

Source: Al Jazeera