Striking Boeing defence workers reject contract offer for fourth time

MORE than 3,000 Boeing defence workers on strike in the US Mid-west since August voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer, their union said on Sunday – in the fourth such refusal.

“Boeing claimed they listened to their employees – the result of today’s vote proves they have not,” International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) President Brian Bryant said in a statement. No vote tally was given.

Workers in the St Louis area are waiting for bigger wage increases, a larger ratification bonus and retirement contributions on par with those earned by Boeing workers in the Pacific North-west, the statement said.

Boeing said it was “disappointed” by the vote, which “failed by the slimmest of margins, 51 per cent to 49 per cent.”

“With the close result and the increased interest we’re hearing from teammates who want to cross the picket line, it’s clear many understand the value of our offer,” a Boeing spokesperson told AFP.

Dan Gillian, a top executive in the St Louis Boeing branch, said on Wednesday that the offer would provide an average salary increase of 45 per cent over the contract’s five-year term, plus various bonuses, increased vacation time, and added health and pension benefits.

The Boeing machinists – on strike since Aug 4 – work on the F-15 and F-18 combat aircraft, the T-7 Red Hawk Advanced Pilot Training System and the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft in factories in Missouri and Illinois.

In early September, Boeing began recruiting replacement workers. Then earlier this month, it sought to identify more tasks that could be outsourced to third parties.

“We are turning our focus to executing the next phase of our contingency plan in support of our customers,” Boeing said on Sunday. AFP