Boeing strike ends after workers vote to accept “life-changing” wage increase

More than 33,000 Boeing workers reached a tentative agreement Monday night to end a weekslong strike that quickly became one of the costliest strikes in recent history—estimated to have cost the US economy more than $9.6 billion. Through their unions, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Districts 751 and W24, workers in Washington state, Oregon, and California had previously rejected two inadequate Boeing offers while the company lost hundreds of millions daily. Negotiations had stalled until US Secretary of Labor Julie Su stepped in, IAM said in a press release, helping to restart talks and get to a deal that 59 percent of workers could agree on. Under the proposed deal, workers will receive a 43 percent wage increase over four years, as well as a $12,000 bonus they can choose to receive in their paycheck, as a 401(k) contribution, or a combination of both. Additionally, Boeing agreed to match 401(k) contributions up to 8 percent. According to The New York Times, Boeing said "the average annual pay of machinists will rise to more than $119,000 by the end of the contract, up from nearly $76,000 today, after those raises and other benefits are taken into account." This is "life-changing" money for Boeing workers, IAM's press release said. The workers refused to accept Boeing's so-called best offer of a 25 percent wage increase back in September. While Boeing lost billions during the strike, workers collectively lost hundreds of millions in wages, CNN noted, but IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said that workers voted to stand their ground because "working people know what it’s like when a company overreaches and takes away more than is fair. "Our members perform high-quality and flight-critical work for the airplanes we build and deserve a return on their labor investment that provides for the quality of life worthy of that labor," Holden said. In a message to his reuniting team, Boeing president and CEO Kelly Ortberg said Boeing was "pleased to reach a ratified agreement." In an accompanying FAQ, Boeing said workers can return to work as soon as Wednesday but must return by November 12. Ortberg, who joined Boeing in August just ahead of the strike, considered it a top goal to end the strike so that Boeing could resume production on new 737s. "While the past few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of the same team," Ortberg said. "We will only move forward by listening and working together. There is much work ahead to return to the excellence that made Boeing an iconic company. This is an important time in our history, and like generations before us, we will face into the moment together, and stronger as one team."

Workers vow to restore Boeing safety standards

Holden said that workers are "ready to help Boeing change direction and return to building the highest quality and safest airplanes in the world" after alarms were raised about Boeing's quality control when missing bolts caused a Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger door plug to blow off during flight earlier this year. During that scandal, Boeing was dinged for outsourcing its supply chain, and now, due to negotiations, Holden said workers will be more involved in making those kinds of decisions as Boeing seeks to rebuild its reputation. "Our members are critical to that mission, and now have a stronger voice in the decision-making process to ensure those needed improvements are made," Holden said. "'There is no Boeing without the IAM' has been our battle cry, and we are ready, again, to do our part to bring this company back to the standard that it never should have strayed from." According to Bloomberg, Boeing expects to "continue to burn cash in 2025" as workers help the embattled company ramp production back up. Boeing previously promised workers that the company would build Boeing's next jet in the Puget Sound region in Washington. Over the deal's four-year term, Boeing will likely pay more than $1 billion in higher wages to workers, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu estimated. To fund this build-back effort, Boeing spent the past week raising $23 billion by selling off shares to banks, a capital sale that Bloomberg noted was "one of the largest ever of its kind by a public company." In addition to a historic wage increase, workers also secured gains like improved short-term and long-term disability plans, better health care cost containment, improved overtime rules, and key job security provisions. Holden credited workers for reaching a "groundbreaking" agreement that would "set a new standard for compensation and wages for aerospace industry workers." "Livable wages and benefits that can support a family are essential—not optional—and this strike underscored that reality," Holden said. "This contract will have a positive and generational impact on the lives of workers at Boeing and their families. We hope these gains inspire other workers to organize and join a union. Frontline Boeing workers have used their voices, their collective power, and their solidarity to do what is right, to stand up for what is fair—and to win.”