Boeing workers in Seattle launch historic strike: "This is about fighting for our future!"
Seattle, Washington - Boeing workers in the Seattle region overwhelmingly voted to strike Thursday in the latest blow to the beleaguered company.
Hourly workers rejected the contract with a vote of 94.6% and to strike with 96%, said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 union.
"Our members spoke loud and clear tonight," said Holden, who represents about 33,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest. "We strike at midnight."
A strike will shutter two major plane assembly plants in the Puget Sound region and sideline some 33,000 workers.
Thursday's vote marks a decisive rejection of a deal that line workers said was far less generous than depicted by Boeing executives, marking the latest show of power by unions following earlier strikes in the auto, entertainment, and other industries.
Led by new CEO Kelly Ortberg, Boeing had hoped a 25% wage hike over four years and a commitment to invest in the Puget Sound region would avert a costly strike as the company struggles to right the ship.
Ortberg argued in a message to staff that the general wage hike marked the largest in history and that a strike "would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together."
Boeing workers slam "misleading" company offer
Rank-and-file workers reacted with fury to the agreement, which was initially backed by IAM leadership.
Workers had sought a 40% wage hike and pointed out that the 25% figure is inflated because the new deal also eliminates an annual company bonus.
Other points of contention include the deal's failure to restore a pension, as well as a Boeing pledge to build its next plane in the Seattle region, viewed as a "hollow" commitment to the region because it offers no promises beyond the four-year contract.
"They're talking about a 25% increase and it's not," said Paul Janousek, an electrician in Everett who voted to strike after concluding Boeing's spin was "misleading," given that his raise would only about nine percent after Boeing dropped the annual bonus.
Union showing its "real power"
Some workers also expressed anger about Dennis Muilenburg and Dave Calhoun, two former CEOs who received multi-million dollar compensation even as the company faced turmoil upon their departure.
"Striking isn't ideal, but it's for the best for your long-term well-being," said Joe Philbin, a structural mechanic who has been at Boeing for six months.
Philbin said he will work side jobs if a strike drags out, but that he and his wife have been holding off on having kids until the situation stabilizes.
"(Boeing) is a huge company, they can survive paying the people who do the work a little more," he said.
Holden has said he initially backed the deal as the best that could be achieved without striking.
But the "real power" in the union resides with the workers, according to Holden, who said at a press conference that "awesome" wins by other unions had given the IAM "something to aspire to achieve as well."
"This is about fighting for our future," he insisted.
Boeing has been under renewed scrutiny since a January incident in which a fuselage panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane mid-flight, necessitating an emergency landing.
Subsequent incidents and investigations have revealed shocking health and safety failures on the part of the company, problems that whistleblowers say the company has been ignoring.
Cover photo: JASON REDMOND / AFP