SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing is suing the union representing striking factory workers The union had wanted more time to consider a revised contract proposal with bigger pay increases and more bonus money, but it was unclear Tuesday whether the union would schedule a ratification vote on the proposal.
The strikers protesting in the Pacific Northwest said that The company's latest offering That wasn't enough. The union and many of its members complained that Boeing bypassed the union in publicizing the offer, which some workers said was an unfair attempt to make them look greedy.
Boeing's new “best and final” offer includes a 30% pay raise over four years, up from 25% in a deal for the 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Overwhelmingly rejected When they voted to strike, the union had originally demanded 40% over three years.
Because of the union's opposition, Boeing on Tuesday withdrew its demand that workers vote on the new proposal by Friday night, but the company still wants a vote.
“This strike is impacting our team and our communities, and we believe our employees should have the opportunity to vote on our proposal, which makes significant improvements to pay and benefits,” the company said in a statement.
The strikers seemed to have little support for this new proposal. Daniel Dias, who has worked as a test technician at Boeing for the past six years, is not very happy with this proposal.
“A 5% increase (from the previous proposal)? That's not enough. My mortgage is $4,000. I went to Safeway to get breakfast yesterday, and it cost me $62” to buy groceries, Dias said.
Mon Dom, who has worked as an electrician at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, for 17 years, said workers need better pay because of the high cost of living in the Seattle area.
“We just want a fair deal. We're not greedy,” Dom said. “It's hard to live in this state. You have to make over $160,000 to buy a home. New workers make $25, $26 an hour. So this (offer) is not going to be enough.”
Boeing executives briefed union representatives on their new offer Monday morning, just hours before announcing it to employees through the media.
“Boeing does not have the right to dictate when or what you will vote on,” union officials told members late Monday. “This proposal does not go far enough to address your concerns, and Boeing has missed the mark with this proposal.”
Boeing electrician John Lentz, who joined co-workers in waving strike signs on a roadside near the Renton factory, said the way Boeing bypassed union negotiators when announcing the offer “seems pretty suspicious. We have people who are there to negotiate for us.”
Boeing said its latest offer includes an upfront pay increase of 12%, plus three annual raises of 6%, and would boost machinists' average annual pay from the current $75,608 to $111,155 at the end of the four-year contract.
It will also continue to offer annual bonuses based on productivity. In the rejected contract, Boeing replace those payments With new contributions to retirement accounts.
John Reiffel, who spent nearly 25 years at Boeing, said the company was trying to make the strikers look unreasonable even as they sought to negotiate a contract for the first time in more than a decade.
“We make a product that people's lives depend on,” Reiffel said. “The bonus money will be huge for the high-level and mid-level and first-level managers and everybody else, but if we don't make it, there's no product. And we work hard.”
There have been no formal talks between the two sides for nearly a week since a two-day session led by federal mediators ended.
Boeing faces serious financial, legal and Mechanical Challenges This year, looking forward to finishing 12 day old walkout Which has halted production of its best-selling airline planes.
Kai von Rumohr, an aviation analyst at financial services firm TD Cowen, said Boeing's decision to make the latest offer in the absence of additional bargaining sessions casts doubt on the proposed second ratification vote.
“If it fails, it should motivate the union leadership to re-engage in serious negotiations,” he said. However, the union leadership's support for Boeing's previous offer — which lost in a 96% strike vote — calls into question the union's ability to win support for a new, improved offer, he said.
Production has stopped due to the strike. boeing 737767 and 777 and is forcing the company to take steps to cut costs, including rolling Floating holiday For thousands of non-union managers and employees.
Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019 and is lagging far behind rival Airbus in terms of orders and deliveries of planes to airline customers. It needs to deliver more planes to bring in cash, but federal regulators are limiting production of the 737 — Boeing’s best-selling plane — to 38 per month until the company improves its quality-control processes. Boeing was making fewer than 38 planes before the strike.
The recession began two years later Fatal accidents The incident involved a Boeing 737 Max jet, and the situation worsened after a panel called a door plug burst Another Max blew up During an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Boeing's critics, including some whistleblowers inside the company, claim that Boeing cut corners on production and prioritized profits over safety.
head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing's regulatorson Tuesday said that although it was not his job to assess Boeing's financial position, the company had not benefited from a lack of focus on safety.
“Even if profit is your No. 1 goal, safety really should be your No. 1 goal because it's hard to make a profit if you're not safe, and I think Boeing has certainly learned that,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said during a US House subcommittee hearing. “Any money that could have been saved has certainly been lost in the consequences.”
Whitaker has previously acknowledged his agency's surveillance of Boeing. was not strong enoughtold lawmakers that since Boeing submitted a plan to improve its manufacturing in late May, “they are moving in the right direction.”
Still, he said it will take years for Boeing to fully overhaul its safety systems and culture.
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Koenig reported from Dallas.