Members of Boeing's largest union voted to reject a collective bargaining agreement and will go on strike from midnight on Friday, which will seriously affect production at Boeing's commercial aircraft manufacturing center in Seattle. This is the first strike since 2008 by Boeing's largest union, IAM District 751, which represents 33,000 Boeing employees.
This strike will make Boeing's current situation even worse. Since a near-catastrophic accident in early 2024, quality problems with Boeing planes have triggered regulatory investigations, customer protests and executive changes.
Union members ignore calls for peace from new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg. Ortberg has vowed to rebuild labor relations. Union members also objected to the terms of the agreement that union leaders recommended accepting, including a guaranteed 25% pay increase over four years. While it's the biggest pay raise proposal in Boeing's history, workers had expected a bigger raise and were angry over a provision that eliminated annual bonuses.
A passenger plane accident on January 5 this year plunged Boeing into a quality crisis, forcing the company to slow down production. Boeing has been in financial trouble since then, with its credit rating just one notch above speculative grade, putting it in a difficult position as it grapples with a heavy debt load of $45 billion.