Business Business: Boeing Co. and its largest union said they have struck a deal to potentially avoid a strike that would cripple its airplane manufacturing. The IAM 751 union and the company said the offer included a 25% pay raise over four years and a commitment to build Boeing’s next plane in the Seattle area. The breakthrough came after a marathon bargaining session that included a likely strike vote after the current contract expired at midnight on Sept. 12. It’s a significant win for new Boeing Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg, who has signaled he wants to reset long-contentious labor relations at the plane maker.
But it’s too early to know whether Boeing’s factory workers will support the measure or oppose his leadership. Anti-management sentiment is high, especially among workers who were pressured to give up pensions a decade ago. “The contract proposal includes the largest general wage increase ever, lower medical cost sharing to make healthcare more affordable, greater company contributions to your retirement and improvements for better work-life balance,” Commercial Airplane President and CEO Stephanie Pope said in a video message to employees.
Boeing and officials from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have been meeting at a Seattle hotel for nearly a month to try to find a middle ground on wages, retirement benefits, job security, healthcare and other issues. The talks are the first full-scale negotiations in 16 years between the company and the local union representing 33,000 mechanics and factory workers in Washington and Oregon. If workers balk at the company’s offer, Boeing could face a walkout that could shut down its Puget Sound factories, jeopardizing efforts to boost jetliner production after a near-disaster that exposed lax quality controls and manufacturing deficiencies.
