Late last month, St. Louis-area Boeing machinists voted down a proposed contract from the company for the fourth time by the narrowest margin so far: 51% to 49%.
The contract attempted to address union members’ concerns by adding a year of pay raises for top-paid employees, but it subtracted from attendance bonuses.
With that close call, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 strike continues into its fourth month. After the vote, the union made a counterproposal, but Boeing immediately rejected it and did not offer an alternative.
Boeing officials said the close result indicates many workers understand the value of their offer. It added that they are continuing to pursue hiring replacement workers.
The latest contract rejection by Boeing led the union to submit its second unfair labor practice charge against the company. The first complaint was submitted before the Oct. 26 vote. However, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, it’s unlikely anything will happen with these until government activity resumes.
Jake Rosenfeld, Washington University professor and labor expert, said that filing these charges is fairly routine in a strike like this, and that the company was likely prepared for them. Boeing has said the charges are unfounded.
The union’s counterproposal was a modified version of its last one, which 90% of voting members approved but the company did not accept. It made concessions on the 401(k) plan but kept the general wage increase and ratification bonus the same, which are both higher than in the most recent Boeing contract.
Even so, the union estimates that the difference between its counterproposal and the most recent Boeing contract is about $8 million more over four years. In its third quarter earnings report released Oct. 29, Boeing posted $23 billion in revenue.
“$8 million is a rounding error in the grand scheme of Boeing's operations,” Rosenfeld said. “And so it does, from an outsider's perspective, raise a question of, what exactly are we fighting about here?”
The earnings report was overall better than in past quarters, but it did show a $5.4 billion loss for the third quarter due to certification delays for its 777X aircraft. Workers at St. Louis-area Boeing facilities manufacture composite parts for the 777X.
Additionally, a U.S. military official publicly acknowledged last month that the strike has delayed deliveries of F-15EX fighter jets.
“The company hasn’t delivered a single new F-15 during this 13-week strike, and production delays are now rippling into the 777X program,” said IAM Union International President Brian Bryant in a statement the day the report was released. “It’s time for Boeing to end this strike, get our members back to work, and live up to the values they claim to be rebuilding.”
Citing the $23 billion in revenue, Rosenfeld said the company has more incentive to drag out the strike than the union does. It has the money to do so, and each contract has been rejected by a smaller margin, he said.
Some workers have found new jobs and Rosenfeld said the close vote indicates that there’s a good number of members who are ready to return to work and may be willing to make some concessions that they wouldn’t accept at the beginning of the strike.
On the other hand, many members are still standing strong on the fact that they refuse to accept what they call an insulting offer.
Union member Larry Kurwicki said even though he plans to retire soon, he is holding out for his son, who also works for Boeing.
“I’m not going to walk away for a substandard deal or an insulting deal to sell out my own kids,” Kurwicki said.
Rosenfeld said he wouldn't be shocked if Boeing’s next offer was enough to end the strike simply because the workers are worn out. However, that doesn’t mean they would return to work happily.
“You have plenty of workers who oppose this new contract and plenty of others who are voting for it reluctantly, just out of a kind of desperation to end this strike,” Rosenfeld said. “That has consequences down the line when the next contract negotiations occur.”
Kurwicki said it may also impact interactions between employees when they return to work.
“You have hard feelings in the shop,” Kurwicki said. “Say it passes by the opposite, 51 to 49. You can talk to four people in a group, two people voted for, two people have voted against it.”
After the vote, Boeing heightened its messaging around hiring replacement workers.
The company has been threatening to replace striking workers since September. But on Oct. 28, two days after the vote, Boeing Defense, Space & Security CEO Steve Parker sent a message to union members saying the company was “moving forward with the next phase of (its) contingency plan.”
“We are accelerating our efforts to hire permanent replacement workers, which will likely result in some striking employees being displaced,” Parker said. “We’re welcoming back teammates who are crossing the picket line as we continue to hear from more teammates who tell us they are ready to come back to work.”
The company has not commented on how many replacement workers it has hired so far, but it did add several FAQs about crossing the picket line to its website.
Kurwicki said he remains unconcerned by the threat.
“I know a few people who are in training, and I know a few people that are on the inside,” Kurwicki said. “There's not a whole lot going on.”
The strike has attracted bipartisan attention from Congress, and it has largely been in support of the union. U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley have been outspoken supporters of the union since the strike began.
Additionally, several elected officials have signed letters asking the company to end the strike, including 17 members of the House Armed Services Committee and Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former Army helicopter pilot. Four other members of the Senate committee also signed the letter.
Rosenfeld said this is noteworthy.
“They've been on the workers’ side throughout,” Rosenfeld said. “What I haven't seen are any statements from policymakers supporting the firm, supporting the company in this particular impasse.”
Rosenfeld said that this political pressure has not yet had an impact on the status of the strike but that it’s not a dynamic he has seen in the past.
