St. Louis Boeing workers will continue their strike, which has stretched 12 weeks, after negotiation meetings with a federal mediator once again failed.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 and the company resumed negotiations on Monday after the union filed an unfair labor practice complaint.
On Wednesday, Boeing presented union leadership with a modified version of its previous five-year contract that members voted down in September. The proposal made the following changes:
- Added a 1.5% general wage increase and a 2.5% lump sum in year four for top-paid employees. This replaced a 5% lump sum with no wage increase.
- Split the $4,000 ratification bonus into $3,000 in year one and $1,000 in year four.
- Added $3,000 of restricted stock units.
- Decreased attendance bonuses from 50 cents per hour to 25 cents per hour.
Union leaders refused to take the proposal to members for a vote.
“We’ve said it many times, and we’ll say it again: We will not vote on an insulting offer,” the union’s bargaining committee said in a statement to members. “It’s long past time for Boeing to show some respect for its workforce and come to the table with a reasonable offer that recognizes your skill, dedication and experience.”
The statement said the contract failed to address members’ primary concerns of retirement security, ratification bonus and top-of-scale wage growth.
Boeing criticized the union for not taking the latest proposal to its membership.
“Unfortunately, after talking for weeks about your democratic process, IAM leadership is refusing to allow you to vote on this offer and the chance to end the strike,” Boeing St. Louis Vice President of Air Dominance Dan Gillian said in a statement to members.
He said the deal remains the best contract ever proposed to IAM 837.
Union shop steward Josh Arnold testified at a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing Wednesday that striking workers must pay $2,500 a month for COBRA health insurance, which allows employees to temporarily stay on their employer-sponsored health insurance at a higher cost. Striking workers receive $300 per week from a union fund.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, said during the hearing that the health insurance expense is “unbelievable.”
The statement from the union said, “As we heard today on Capitol Hill, Boeing’s greed and disdain for the very employees who make its success possible is on full display.”
