EVERETT—With the assistance of Secretary of Labor Julie Su, the International Association of Machinist (IAM) 751 & W24 will be allowing its 33,000 members on Monday, November 4, to vote on an updated contract offer by Boeing with hopes to ending a 49-day strike that has cost billions of dollars in lost revenue.
“Your Union is endorsing and recommending the latest IAM/Boeing Contract Proposal. It is time for our members to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory. We believe asking members to stay on strike longer wouldn’t be right as we have achieved so much success,” IAM 751 released in a statement on X.
IAM added that its negotiating team has “extracted everything that we can in bargaining” and “risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.” The latest offer does not reinstate Boeing’s defined-benefit pension program, union leadership fiercely advocated for during the strike.
A Boeing spokesperson, in a statement, is encouraging members to accept the offer: “We encourage all of our employees to learn more about the improved offer and vote on Monday, November 4.”
Below is a summary of key provisions in the latest October 31st proposed four-year bargaining agreement:
- 38% General Wage Increase (up from 35% in 10/19 offer). This is an effective 43.65% wage increase.
- Year 1: 13%
- Year 2: 9%
- Year 3: 9%
- Year 4: 7%
- $12,000 ratification bonus (up from $7,000 in 10/19 offer)
- Boeing 401(k) match increased to 100% of first 8% of pay, plus automatic 4% company contribution (80% of our employees max out their 401(k) contributions).
The average annual machinist pay at the end of this 4-year contract will be $119,309 if the offer is accepted. This is an increase of about $43,700 from the previous contract’s $75,608 average.
All other terms stay the same as previous offers, including:
- Commitment to build Boeing’s next new airplane in the Puget Sound region.
- Annual bonus with 4% guaranteed annual payout, up to 6%.
- Retirement benefits also include:
- New 401(k) annuity option for guaranteed monthly retirement disbursement; Boeing pays the transaction fee.
- For employees with a Boeing pension (hired before Jan. 2014), offer increases pension multiplier from $95 per year of service to $105.
- For health care, 2025 paycheck contributions will be lower than 2024.
Tell Us What You Think
Perhaps third time is the charm
This will be the fourth contract offer and third vote by machinists. Boeing IAM 751 & W24 union members overwhelmingly voted, 64 percent, on Wednesday, October 23, to reject the latest October 19 contract offer from the aerospace company.
“This wasn’t enough for our members,” Jon Holden, IAM 751 President told reporters at Wednesday’s presser following the October 23 vote. “There is a big gap we could reach especially since it has been 16 years since we had a chance to bargain every area of our contract. Trying to make all that up in one is very hard to do but our members deserve more, they have spoken loudly, and we are going to go back to the table to try and achieve those things.”
The October 19 offer was a much better deal from the original, union leadership endorsed on September 8 that was rejected on September 12 with a vote of 94.6% by IAM members who also agreed to strike beginning the following day with a vote.
Boeing withdrew on October 8 its “best and final” offer proposed to IAM 751 & W24 union members on September 23, which left striking workers and an industry anxiously awaiting next steps.
IAM has been demanding a pay increase of 40 percent and for Boeing to reinstate the company’s defined-benefit pension program, which members voted in January of 2014 to replace with Boeing’s 401(k) plan. Just three months later, Boeing announced that it will be cancelling its pension for a new defined-contribution 401(k) plan for all nonunion employees starting January 2016 in an effort to improve cashflows and its long-term financial health, a strategy, which in hindsight, no doubt contributed to Boeing weathering its recent financial ills.
Less than a week after reporting $6.2 billion in third quarter losses and machinist union members rejecting its latest contract offer, Boeing announced on October 28, stock offerings to raise up to $22 billion to help ease its financial woes.
On October 23, Boeing reported for its third quarter total Consolidated Debt at $57.7 billion, relatively unchanged from the previous quarter and its credit rating is near junk with S&P reporting BBB-, Moody’s at Baa3 and Fitch at BBB-. On a positive note, the aerospace juggernaut is reported a total backlog of $511 billion, up $42 billion from the third quarter of 2023.
Revenues for the third quarter were $17.8 billion, down $300 million from the previous year. So far for the year, Boeing has reported a total of $51.3 billion in revenues, down from $55.8 billion in third quarter 2023. For the year, the company is reporting a Net Loss of $8 billion with $6.174 billion in the third quarter alone.
Author: Mario Lotmore
