Boeing Machinists to vote Monday

The Boeing Machinists union leadership has received another contract proposal in a bid to end the ongoing strike, which enters its eighth week today.

The union announced the offer Thursday afternoon and recommended that members vote to approve the deal. It includes a 38% general wage increase over the next four years, which compounds to more than 43% over the life of the agreement, the union said in its statement.

“It is time for our Members to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory,” the union wrote. “We believe asking members to stay on strike longer wouldn’t be right as we have achieved so much success.”

The 33,000 Machinists union members will vote on the proposal Monday. A simple majority will determine if the contract is accepted, bringing the Machinists back to work, or rejected, meaning the strike will continue. The strike has idled Boeing’s plants in Renton, Everett and elsewhere.

This is the third contract offer the Machinists union will vote on since negotiations began last spring. Union members overwhelmingly voted against the first offer, leading to the strike that began on Sept. 13.

The union declined to bring a second offer from Boeing to a vote in September because leadership said it did not meet members’ demands. The union’s leaders also objected to Boeing’s decision to release details of the offer to the media shortly after presenting it to the union’s negotiating committee.

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

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

Union members who voted against the last contract proposal in October said the deal did not offer a large enough wage increase and did not address other key issues, like paid time off and quicker progression steps for employees to move up in Boeing’s ranks.

Other employees said they would not settle for a contract that didn’t restore the defined-benefit pension plan.

In a bitter vote that is still resonating with Machinists today, the union voted 10 years ago to end the pension plan, following threats from Boeing that it would take airplane production out of the Puget Sound region.

Boeing has said throughout these negotiations that restoring the pension plan is a non-starter. But, at the last contract vote, Machinists said they were still hoping to see movement on their demand. Some workers held signs that read “No pension, no planes.”

After tallying the votes last time, Machinists union Local 751 President Jon Holden told reporters that the pension plan is “right at the heart of this for many.” If Boeing isn’t willing to restore it, then “we’ve got to get something that replaces it,” Holden continued, such as higher wages, a greater 401(k) contribution or other options that provide a defined benefit.

Boeing has steadily enhanced the general wage increase in its contract offers, starting with a 25% increase over four years, then 30%, then 35% in the early October offer.

It has also increased the amount it will contribute to the 401(k) plan and, in the early October offer, included a one-time, $5,000 contribution to each employee’s account.

In an effort to address the financial impact of the strike, which has left its Puget Sound factories idle, Boeing launched a massive share sale at the end of October. It raised $21.1 billion to shore up its balance sheet, help avoid a credit rating downgrade and buy more time as the strike continues.

Lauren Rosenblatt: 206-464-2927 or lrosenblatt@seattletimes.com.