Unionized Boeing workers in the St. Louis area have been on strike for 10 weeks now, and with no further negotiations scheduled, there’s no immediate end in sight.
As the strike continues, it’s affecting delivery of some fighter jets. Last week, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said deliveries of F-15EX aircraft are being delayed by the strike. This was ahead of his Oct. 9 Senate confirmation hearing to be Air Force chief of staff.
He said the delays will affect operations at the Portland Air National Guard Base this year and deliveries to overseas locations in 2026, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.
Labor expert Jake Rosenfeld said this may put pressure on the company to end the strike, especially after questions regarding the safety of its commercial planes.
“This is another setback that, as it drags on, could continue the narrative that this is a company that cannot get out of its own way,” said Rosenfeld, who is chairman of the sociology department at Washington University.
The company has also felt mounting pressure from politicians, including Sens. Josh Hawley and Bernie Sanders, but Rosenfeld said this strike has not garnered the national attention that last year’s machinists strike in the Pacific Northwest did.
“I think the company has benefited from a lack of broader attention to this particular strike,” Rosenfeld said Monday on St. Louis on the Air. “That has helped them kind of really dig in and really hold the line against workers’ requests.”
Last fall, about 33,000 Boeing machinists in Seattle and surrounding areas went on strike and won a deal that included a $12,000 signing bonus and an improved 401(k) plan. Though the St. Louis union is about a tenth of the size, its members are holding out for a comparable plan.
The company attributes its $4,000 signing bonus, and other differing contract terms for the St. Louis union, to the fact that the cost of living is much higher in the Pacific Northwest than in the Midwest.
Rosenfeld said that while housing prices are much higher there, he understands the workers’ perspective.
“It's going to be very hard to explain to these workers, thousands of them, that they have to settle for dramatically less than what their West Coast machinists did just a year ago,” Rosenfeld said.
Boeing President and CEO of Defense, Space and Security Steve Parker said in a letter to members on Thursday that the company will not make a better contract proposal.
“No matter how long the strike lasts, the economics won’t change,” Parker said in the letter. “The bottom line is firm.”
The St. Louis workers seem to be employing a similar strategy to Seattle's in that they have voted against multiple contracts approved by the company and union leadership. However, Rosenfeld said the company response has been more aggressive in St. Louis.
One of the company’s main threats to St. Louis workers has been hiring permanent replacements, and the company said it has begun hiring. That strategy was not employed in Seattle.
Rosenfeld said that no matter the end result, this strike will have an impact on future labor disputes nationwide.
“A successful strike here could embolden other workers whose contracts are coming up,” Rosenfeld said. “One in which the company is able to hold the line and really settle for less than what they settled for out West also would have reverberations across our region and the nation.”
Hear how Rosenfeld thinks the strike might play out on St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
