Factory workers at Boeing are to vote on whether to accept or reject the contract offer made by Boeing, of 38 per cent pay hike over four years. It remains to be seen whether their decision will bring the seven-week long strike to an end or not. If the strike does come to an end, workers are expected to be back on duty starting 12 November 2024.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has already rejected two earlier offers. If they fail to accept this third offer Boeing will find itself amid a major financial crisis.
Earlier, Boeing had offered a 25 per cent increment which was rejected. It had then offered to raise the increment to 35 per cent, while the union had demanded a raise of 40 per cent over three years.
The latest offer is of an increment of 38 per cent in pay over four years along with ratification and productivity bonuses.
According to IAM District 751, which represents Boeing employees in the US Pacific Northwest, the recent offer is much better than the last one—which was disapproved by at least two-thirds of the Union members. It feels that workers should consider this as a triumph and focus on the gains.
With this offer, the average pay for machinists will increase from $75,608 to $119,309 over a period of four years.
The pension scheme, however, remains frozen as it has been for about ten years now. The employees had been seeking restoration of the same.
