Boeing’s new chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, has pleaded with workers to not go on strike, before a crucial union vote, saying the action would put the company’s “recovery in jeopardy”.
About 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, most of them in the Seattle area, are to vote on Thursday on a pay offer that includes rises worth 25% over four years.
If the members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) reject the contract offer and two-thirds of them vote to strike, a stoppage would start in the early hours of Friday, just after midnight in Seattle.
Shutting down production would not cause flight cancellations but would be another blow to Boeing’s reputation and finances. The aircraft maker has lurched from crisis to crisis since two 737 Max airliners crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. Then in January, a cabin panel blew out of a Max mid-flight, and the planemaker was investigated after several whistleblowers came forward with allegations about their experiences working for Boeing – and the safety of its planes.
Ortberg told machinists on Wednesday: “No one wins” in a strike.
“For Boeing, it is no secret that our business is in a difficult period, in part due to our own mistakes in the past,” he said. “Working together, I know that we can get back on track, but a strike would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together.”
Although the bargaining committee that negotiated the contract recommended members approve it, Jon Holden, the IAM District 751 president, who represents more than 32,000 aerospace workers at Boeing and other suppliers, said earlier this week that the strike vote would go ahead. Many workers have complained about the deal on social media.
Voting will take place at union halls in Washington state, Portland, Oregon, and other locations, with results expected to be released on Thursday night.
Holden told members on Monday that the union obtained everything possible in bargaining and recommended approval of the deal “because we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike”.
The deal fell short of the union’s initial demand for pay raises of 40% over three years. Many workers are also unhappy about their pensions.
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A strike would halt production of the 737 Max, the company’s bestselling airliner, along with the 777 jet and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Everett and Renton, Washington, near Seattle. It is not expected to affect Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are built by non-union workers in South Carolina.
The Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie said: “This represents a key risk for 737 Max production levels.” Over time, the disruption could lead to market share losses to rival Airbus’s A320neo, she said.
Cai von Rumohr, a senior aerospace analyst at TD Cowen, said a strike could last into mid-November, which could cost Boeing up to $3.5bn (£2.7bn) in cashflow because the company gets about 60% of the sale price when it delivers a plane to the buyer.