BOEING increased its wage offer to thousands of striking workers on Monday, in what it called its “best and final offer”, but the planemaker’s biggest union said the terms were not good enough and it would not put the proposal to a vote.
The US planemaker also offered to reinstate a performance bonus, improve retirement benefits and double a ratification bonus to US$6,000 if the workers accept the offer by Friday, according to a letter sent to International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers officials by the company.
IAM Local 751 said it would not hold a new vote on the offer, which is contingent on being approved by Friday.
The union said it was made without a new round of negotiations and added Boeing declined to agree to new talks, mediation or even meet with the union.
“This proposal does not go far enough to address your concerns, and Boeing has missed the mark with this proposal,” the union said. “They are trying to drive a wedge between our members and weaken our solidarity with this divisive strategy.”
Boeing said in a statement that its latest offer, which came after unsuccessful federal mediation last week, made significant improvements and addressed feedback from the union and employees.
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“We first presented the offer to the union and then transparently shared the details with employees,” the company said.
More than 32,000 Boeing workers in Portland and the Seattle area walked off the job on Sept 13 in the union’s first strike since 2008.
The workers, who have sought 40 per cent higher pay as well as the restoration of the performance bonus, rejected a previous offer by the company. The union represents the workers who build Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX and other jets.
Boeing is under intensifying pressure to end the strike, which could cost it several billion dollars, fraying the company’s already-strained finances and threatening a downgrade of its credit rating. The two sides ceased bargaining last week.
Boeing’s commercial planes chief Stephanie Pope had told workers before the strike that the company had held nothing back and that its offer at that time was the best deal they would get.
“Employees knew Boeing executives could do better, and this shows the workers were right all along,” IAM President Brian Bryant said in a statement.
The strike is the latest event in a tumultuous year for the company that began with a January incident in which a door panel detached from a new 737 MAX jet mid-air.
An earlier tentative deal between Boeing and the union that offered a 25 per cent raise over four years and a commitment that a new plane would be manufactured in the Seattle area if it were launched during the four-year agreement was voted down by more than 90 per cent of workers this month.
Boeing has frozen hiring and started furloughs for thousands of US employees to reduce costs amid the strike. Boeing has planned for workers to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike.
The extensive furloughs show that new CEO Kelly Ortberg is preparing Boeing to weather a prolonged strike that may not be easily resolved given the anger among rank-and-file workers.
North American unions have capitalized on tight labour markets to win hefty contracts at the bargaining table, with mainline pilots, auto workers and others scoring big raises in 2023.
The IAM said that 5,000 of its members in Wichita, Kansas went on strike against Cessna business jet maker Textron starting on Monday. REUTERS
