Boeing Blasts Union Offer After Striking Workers Approved Terms

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co. said it would not consider new contract terms approved by a majority of striking St. Louis-area factory workers on Friday.

Officials for the IAM 837, which represents around 3,200 hourly workers, said they would submit the pre-ratified proposal to Boeing for consideration. If the company agrees to terms that include an average 20% guaranteed wage increase over four years and $10,000 signing bonus, the walkout would end. The union drafted the terms without consulting management.

The union’s strategy is aimed at ending a nearly seven-week impasse that has disrupted manufacturing in three factories where Boeing builds military aircraft such as its F-15EX fighter jet and MQ-25 aerial refueling drone, union leaders said.

It’s the first public indication as to what might be needed to win labor peace after the machinists rejected three previous company offers.

But Boeing’s senior leader in the region blasted the tactic as not rooted in reality, with local union members dead set on gains that are closer to the deal won by striking Seattle-area workers last year, including a $12,000 ratification bonus.

“It’s unfortunate that union leadership led its members to vote on something that isn’t real,” said Dan Gillian, a Boeing vice president and general manager. Our previous offer is real and would make our team among the highest paid manufacturing employees in the St. Louis area.”

“We want all 3,200 of our teammates back at work, but that has to happen with a contract that makes sense in the Midwest, not the Pacific Northwest,” Gillian added. 

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