Boeing workers vote to strike after unions reject collective bargaining

According to a report, factory workers at Boeing will walk out of work on Friday after workers voted to go on strike late Thursday night.

“It’s about respect, it’s about dealing with the past, and it’s about fighting for our future,” said Jon Holden, who led the negotiations for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Boeing’s largest union, Reuters reported.

He then announced that 96 percent of around 30,000 workers who produce Boeing’s 737 MAX and other aircraft on the US West Coast had voted in favor of a strike and a subsequent halt to production of the aircraft manufacturer’s best-selling jet.

The strike will be the workers’ first since 2008. It will officially begin early Friday at midnight Pacific Time.

BOEING IS FACING A STRIKE OF AROUND 32,000 WORKERS

Boeing factory workers hold signs as they wait to vote on their first full collective bargaining agreement in 16 years at an International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 union hall in Renton, Washington, U.S., on September 12, 2024. (REUTERS/David Ryder / Reuters)

Boeing said in a statement that the company was willing to continue negotiations.

“The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to members. We remain committed to resetting our relationships with our employees and the union, and we are ready to return to the bargaining table to reach a new agreement,” the company said.

The strike comes amid numerous other production delays and after the company ran into trouble after a door panel was ripped off a nearly new 737 MAX jet in mid-air in January.

Moreover, this happened just weeks after new CEO Kelly Ortberg was hired in August to restore confidence in the company.

The strike represents an abrupt end to negotiations that aimed for a wage increase for workers.

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The deal included a 25% across-the-board pay raise, a $3,000 signing bonus and a commitment to build Boeing’s next commercial jet in the Seattle area.

The strike came after a door panel was torn off a nearly new 737 MAX jet in mid-air earlier this year. (NTSB via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The IAM leadership had initially recommended its members to accept the collective agreement, but many workers reacted angrily. Many of the opponents argued for the 40 percent wage increase originally demanded and complained about the loss of an annual bonus.

According to Reuters, IAM members ultimately rejected the agreement by a majority of 94.6 percent. It was their first full contract in 16 years.

“We will return to the negotiating table as soon as possible,” Holden told a group of reporters on Thursday.

A worker holds a sign in support of a strike as Boeing factory workers line up at a union hall of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 in Renton, Washington, to vote on their first full collective bargaining agreement in 16 years. (REUTERS/David Ryder / Reuters)

He declined to comment on how long he thought the strike would last or when talks would resume, adding: “This is something we are taking day by day, week by week.”

All week, workers protested at Boeing factories in Seattle.

The Boeing Co. manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. Boeing shares fell 7.9% in U.S. premarket trading on Monday as investors assessed potential impacts on production and the aircraft maker’s long-term prospects. (Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The duration of the strike is not immediately clear.

The last Boeing workers’ strike in 2008 lasted 52 days and cost Boeing an estimated $100 million per day.

Reuters contributed to this report.