This is the first time that Boeing has done so since 2008. Workers at its Everett and Renton factories, outside Seattle (Washington State), voted overwhelmingly (96%) on Thursday 12 September in favour of an unlimited strike starting the following day, thereby rejecting wage proposals deemed insufficient by the management of the world’s second largest aircraft manufacturer.
“Our members spoke loud and clear”said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists (IAM-District 751), which represents about 33,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest region where the 737 medium-haul aircraft and 767 freighters and wide-body aircraft are assembled.
A radical turn for the organization, which had initially supported the management’s proposal, saying it was unable to “ensure that[elle obtiendrait] more on strike”. A good deal, said the IAM union, which pushed Boeing shares up by 3%. Two days later, it was rejected by 94.6% of the rank and file, and Boeing shares lost more than 4% on Friday, even before the opening of Wall Street.
The last agreement was signed in 2008 after a fifty-seven-day process. Financial circles have not forgotten this and recall that Boeing received around 60% of the price of the aircraft at the time of delivery. Deliveries are already experiencing delays, while airlines are ordering more and more aircraft to renew and decarbonise their fleets.
A major risk
A 50-day dispute would deprive Boeing of $3-3.5 billion in liquidity (2.7-3.2 billion euros), at a rate of 70 million lost per day, and would have an impact of 5.5 billion on its turnover, according to analysts at TD Cowen. In August, they had already warned that tensions in supply chains, which also affect Airbus, posed a significant risk in the event of a strike.
The new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who took over Boeing at the beginning of August following the abrupt departure of Dave Calhoun, understood that he had to reassert the group’s industrial footprint. The 64-year-old engineer decided to repatriate the headquarters from Arlington, on the outskirts of Washington, to Seattle, close to the main assembly lines.
“We remain committed to repairing our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to return to the bargaining table to reach a new agreement.”The aircraft manufacturer said after the vote. The previous proposal called for a 25% wage increase over four years, far from the 40% demanded by employees, who are also awaiting pension measures. Rising prices are one of the main concerns of Americans, less than two months before the presidential election on 5 November.
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