Boeing's (BA, Financial) union factory workers are on a seven-week strike, and the revised contract that is to be put to vote this Monday offers a more realistic and better wage hike than earlier contract offers. IAM says that the new Boeing offer on wages and benefits provides for a 38% raise over four years, compounded by about 43%.
To resolve the strike, Boeing has improved the earlier offer by increasing the augmentation to $12,000 from the previous $7,000, which will be given once the workers approve the contract. Boeing has also increased the employees' 401(k) plan contributions. The strike, which affected about 33,000 IAM members, has halted production on most Boeing airline jets, including the best-selling 737 Max.
The strike was launched on September 13 after Voting Workers, with 94%, rejected an initial offer comprising 25% wages for four years. Another offer made last week seeking to offer a 35 increase was declined by 64 percent of the workers. The union had initially demanded a pay hike adjusted for 40 percent over three years and reinstatement of what the union termed 'real' pensions that had been discontinued for current workers and were not offered to new employees recruited after January 2014.
Arlington, Virginia-based Boeing has not wavered on its refusal to restore defined benefit pensions, an issue contentious with employees. Machinists today earn an average of $75,608 a year, so the financial impact of a strike is high. The last major strike was held at Boeing in 2008, and it took eight weeks, costing about one hundred million dollars per day in lost revenues.
