Boeing’s (BA) machinists strike is now over after workers ratified a new union contract late Monday, the third draft of an agreement put forward by the company after workers rejected the first two.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents tens of thousands of machinists who were on strike, congratulated its members in a message.
“Working people know what it’s like when a company overreaches and takes away more than is fair,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said in a statement. “Through this strike and the resulting victory, frontline workers at Boeing have done their part to begin rebalancing the scales in favor of the middle class – and in doing so, we hope to inspire other workers in our industry and beyond to continue standing up for justice at work.”
While Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg threatened to start putting worse offers on the table if this one didn’t get approved, the IAM was able to secure several big changes to the first offer that came out of bargaining.
Pay raises
Members of the IAM had been fighting for a 40% bump. The initial agreement gave workers a 25% wage increase over its four-year lifetime. The final agreement gave them a 38% raise.
Ratification bonus
It is common for collective bargaining agreements to give workers a bonus upon ratification. The initial agreement would have given workers a $3,000 bonus. The final agreement gave them a $7,000 bonus plus a $5,000 401(k) contribution.
Retirement
This was the part of negotiations that may have been the most contentious. Members of the IAM had been fighting for the reinstatement of Boeing’s defined-benefit pension. The initial agreement did not give them that — KIRO (PARA), the CBS affiliate in Seattle, reported that there were some boos when the ratification vote results were announced — but it did offer a 75% company match on the first 8% of workers’ contributions to their 401(k) plans. The final agreement gave them a 100% company match on the first 8% of their contributions.
