Boeing factory workers and supporters gather on a picket line near the entrance to a Boeing production facility in Renton, Wash., on Oct. 11.David Ryder/Reuters
Boeing BA-N factory workers held a large rally in Seattle on Tuesday to demand a better wage deal, mounting pressure on new CEO Kelly Ortberg to end a bitter strike that has plunged the plane maker further into financial crisis.
Hundreds of striking workers packed the main hall at union headquarters chanting ‘Pension! Pension! Pension!’ and ‘One day longer, one day stronger!’
Outside, factory workers told Reuters that the recent 17,000 job cuts announced by the company wouldn’t deter them from continuing to fight for higher wages and an improved pension. Around 33,000 unionized West Coast workers, most in Washington state, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase spread over four years and halting production of Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 wide-bodies.
“We want Boeing management to know that we’re strong and united, and their scare tactics aren’t going to work,” said Matthew Wright, a 52-year-old electrician who works on the 767 jet. “We’re not afraid of them.”
The show of force comes as Boeing moves to give itself financial breathing space on Wall Street. It announced a window for up to $25 billion in stock and debt offerings over the next three years on Tuesday, as well as a $10 billion credit agreement. Boeing shares were up 2% in late afternoon trading. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Boeing leadership are locked in a paralyzing blame game over the strike, with both sides filing charges accusing the other of unfair labour practices during negotiations.
Boeing last week withdrew its latest offer, which included a 30% wage increase over four years, after talks also attended by federal mediators broke down. Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su met with Boeing and the IAM in Seattle on Monday in a bid to break the deadlock, in her first in-person intervention.
U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal gave a rousing speech at the rally on Tuesday, addressing the cheering crowd and slamming Boeing for prioritizing executive bonuses and share buybacks over ordinary workers’ pay. The legislator, whose district includes most of Seattle, called on Ortberg to end the strike.
“He has an opportunity to turn this around and to actually give you the contract that you deserve, so that we can get back to building quality planes, so that you can get back to doing your jobs, so that the United States of America can continue to have the most sophisticated, quality company in the Boeing company that it has ever had,” she said.
“Let’s make Seattle Boeing town again!”
‘NO PENSION, NO WRENCHING’ IAM members have been holding smaller picket lines in front of Boeing sites throughout the strike. In Seattle – where Boeing is among the top employers along with Microsoft and Amazon – striking workers on Tuesday carried placards that said ‘No Pension, No Wrenching’ and ‘Kelly Ortberg, Pay it Forward’. In mid-November, Boeing will send out 60-day notices to employees being laid off. A second phase is planned in December if needed, with all affected workers leaving the payroll by late February, industry sources said.
Boeing will refrain from asking for voluntary departures to limit severance cash and avoid an exodus of skills, sources said.
Non-management staff will be offered one week’s worth of severance pay for every year worked in the company, up to a maximum of six months’ salary, the sources said. Managers will spend coming weeks deciding who will be laid off in an internal ranking process dubbed “rack and stack.” A Boeing spokesperson said on Monday plans include both union and non-union workers and that striking IAM employees were not currently affected. Staff in the loss-making defence unit are also expected to be affected. Investors and regulators have had Boeing under the microscope since a door panel flew off a near-new 737 MAX jet in mid-air in January.
Since then, the plane maker’s shares have dropped 40%, the Federal Aviation Administration limited its 737 MAX production levels which hampered output even before the strike, and its CEO was replaced.