Boeing machinists receive new offers | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Boeing machinists’ union leadership received another contract offer Friday in an effort to end the ongoing strike, which entered its eighth week.

The union announced the proposal Thursday afternoon and recommended members approve the agreement. 33,000 striking machinist union members will vote on the proposal on Monday.

“It is time for our members to lock in on these gains and confidently declare victory,” the union wrote. “We believe that since we have had so much success, it would not be right to ask members to stay on strike longer.”

The union said Thursday that the offer includes overall wage increases of 38 percent over the next four years, corresponding to roughly 43 percent over the life of the deal. Wages will increase by 13 percent in the first year, and by 9 percent, 9 percent and 7 percent in the following years.

A simple majority will decide whether to accept the contract, meaning the machinists will be brought back to work, or to reject it and continue the strike. The strike shut down Boeing factories in Renton and Everett, Washington, and elsewhere.

“In every negotiation and strike, there comes a point where we get all we can by bargaining and sparing our labor,” the union said. he said. “We are at this point now and face the risk of a regressive or lower offer in the future.”

The latest offer includes a $12,000 approval bonus.

This $12,000 is a combination of a $7,000 approval bonus and a $5,000 lump sum contribution to the 401(k) plan that Boeing offered in its previous contract bid. This time, members can choose how to split the $12,000 between their paycheck and their 401(k) plan, the union said.

The offer retains most of the provisions from previous contract offers, including a minimum 4% annual bonus and a 100% company 401(k) match of up to 8%. It also increases the annual amount of money that workers receiving pensions will receive.

It does not reinstate the pension plan, which many union members have said is a priority in recent weeks.

According to the strike agreement published on the union’s website, the machinists must return to the factory by November 12 if union members approve the agreement and end the strike. The agreement also stated that all employees “will be returned to the work they were doing before the strike.”

Boeing said in a statement on Thursday that “we encourage all of our employees to learn more about the improved proposal” and cast their votes on Monday.

To partially offset the financial impact of the strike, Boeing launched a massive stock sale this week.

It raised $21.1 billion to shore up its balance sheet, avoid a credit rating downgrade and buy more time while the strike continues.

This is the third contract proposal the machinists union will vote on since negotiations began last spring. An overwhelming majority of union members voted against the initial proposal, leading to a strike that began on 13 September.

The union refused to put Boeing’s second offer to a vote in September because leadership said it did not meet members’ demands. Union leaders also objected to Boeing’s decision to release details of the offer to the media shortly after presenting them to the union’s bargaining committee.

Union members voted against another contract proposal in October, but membership was more divided; 64% voted to reject the offer and 36% voted to accept the deal and end the strike.

The machinists union said in a statement Tuesday evening that about a week after the vote, the union met again with Boeing to “address significant bargaining issues.” Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su is helping mediate the negotiations.

Union members who voted against the latest contract offer earlier this month said the deal did not offer a large enough wage increase and did not address other important issues such as paid leave and faster advancement steps for workers to move up through Boeing’s ranks.

Other employees said they would not settle for a contract that did not reinstate the defined-benefit pension plan.

In a harsh vote that still resonates with machinists today, the union voted to end the pension plan 10 years ago, following threats that Boeing would take some aircraft production from the Puget Sound region.

Boeing has said reinstating the pension plan is a non-starter throughout these negotiations. But in the last contract vote, the machinists said they still hoped to see action on their demands. Some workers carried banners reading “No retirement, no planes.”

After the votes were counted last time, Jon Holden, President of the machinists’ union District 751, told reporters that the retirement plan was “at the very heart of this for many.” Holden continued that if Boeing wasn’t willing to bring it back, then “we should get something to replace it”; for example, higher wages, a larger 401(k) contribution, or other defined-benefit options.

Negotiations over the past few weeks have become tense, with each side accusing the other of failing to bargain in good faith. Machinists walked out in an unfair labor strike in September. Boeing filed unfair labor practice charges against the machinists union leadership with the National Labor Relations Board in October.

As part of the strike settlement agreement, both parties would drop the charges presented to the labor board.

Boeing increased overall wage increases in its contract bids, starting with a 25 percent increase over four years, then rising to 30 percent and then to 35 percent in the bid in early October. The latest proposal, announced Thursday, includes a 38% overall wage increase.

This is among the highest overall wage increases in machinists’ contracts since 1977, according to the union’s data.

While some contracts offered lump sum payments of 12 percent, most included annual general wage increases ranging from 7 percent to 2 percent.

The average annual Machinist salary at the end of the proposed four-year contract would be $119,309, Boeing said Thursday.