‘Same pile of chili:’ Union won’t vote on Boeing’s ‘final’ offer, will meet mediator

Boeing announced its “best and final” offer to its 33,000 striking machinists Monday morning, including a wage increase of 30%, up from the previous offer of 25%.

The aerospace giant sent elements of the offer made to the IAM District 751 in Washington and W24 in Portland, Oregon, to members of the media, including KIRO Newsradio, and it has established a website explaining the new offer and answering potential questions people may have about the offer.

However, leaders with the union said Tuesday they won’t bring Boeing’s latest contract offer to a vote by Friday night, the company’s deadline.

The union explained that Boeing didn’t negotiate the latest offer with them. The company “took it upon itself to disrespect our entire Union by sending this offer directly to all members and the media without any prior communication from your Union,” the statement from IAM District 751 sent to KIRO Newsradio reads. “This offer was not negotiated with your Union; it was thrown at us without any discussion.”

Going further, the statement says Boeing’s proposal doesn’t align with what the union is seeking from the company anyway.

“This proposal does not go far enough to address your concerns, and Boeing has missed the mark with this proposal,” the statement from IAM District 751 reads. “They are trying to drive a wedge between our members and weaken our solidarity with this divisive strategy.”

Boeing stated earlier it will pay workers a $6,000 bonus if they ratify the contract by 11:59 p.m. on Friday. That’s double from the previous bonus offer of $3,000. But on Tuesday Boeing said it reached out to the union to give it more time and has offered logistical support, “once they’ve decided to vote.”

IAM District 751 released a statement Thursday saying its Negotiating Committee and Boeing will meet with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) Friday to continue discussions.

“The Union is ready for this opportunity to bring forward the issues that members have identified as critical to reaching an agreement,” the statement reads. “We know that the only way to resolve this strike is through negotiations.”

The statement also reiterated that Boeing’s latest offer “didn’t meet the needs of our members.” and that message “came through loud and clear in our latest survey”.

Boeing’s revised offer

The company is offering a wage increase of 30% over four years. That’s an increase of the old offer of 25%.

Previously, Boeing took the Aerospace Machinists Performance Program (AMPP) bonus off the table. However, the firm added that back in with this latest offer. Peter Johnson, Boeing’s vice president and general manager of the fabrication division for commercial airplanes, told KIRO Newsradio Monday the company put the bonuses back in place and it’s the same as it was in the previous contract.

Boeing also raised its company match on the Boeing 401(k) too 100% of the first 8% of pay added. In addition, the firm will continue with its automatic 4% contribution. Previously, the offer as 75% of 8% of pay, plus that automatic 4% company contribution.

Besides those key points, all of the other terms of the Sept. 8 tentative agreement stay the same in this offer.  That includes Boeing’s “firm commitment to building Boeing’s next new airplane in the Puget Sound region and Portland.”

Boeing said average annual pay for machinists would rise from $75,608 now to $111,155 at the end of the four-year contract.

It should be noted the new offer would not restore a traditional pension plan that Boeing eliminated about 10 years ago. Striking workers cited pay and pensions as reasons why they voted 94.6% against the company’s previous offer.

“There’s just no scenario in which defined benefit pension plan will be reinstituted for our team or for any other organization within our business,” Johnson told KIRO Newsradio Monday.

The union, which represents factory workers who assemble some of the company’s best-selling planes, said it was reviewing the offer.

“Employees knew Boeing executives could do better, and this shows the workers were right all along,” Brian Bryant, the union’s international president, said in a statement, The Associated Press reported. “The proposal will be analyzed to see if it’s up to the task of helping workers gain adequate ground on prior sacrifices.”

What some of the striking workers had to say about the offer

The striking workers found out about Boeing’s proposal about the same time as everyone else did, given the delivery method. Early on, it was a mixed bag of responses. Some, like Gene Click were in favor of the deal.

“I want to go back to work,” Click told KIRO Newsradio. “So, this is a way better offer, I believe. And I think this is good enough. We all need to be back to work.”

Meanwhile, at another picket line on Airport Road in Everett, KIRO Newsradio reported Monday that every union member emphatically dismissed the offer. They’re not budging from the 40% raise they asked for over four years, and they want pensions back.

“I think it’s kind of a dirty tactic that they’re using,” Boeing worker Jordan Devi said to KIRO Newsradio. “They did it the last time we negotiated our contract.”

“They just stirred the pot and then made it look the same and offered the same pile of chili,” Dirk White, a Boeing employee for seven years, told KIRO Newsradio. “It really isn’t any different than what they offered before.”

In a separate interview on KIRO Newsradio’s “The John and Jake Show” Monday, White said that he doesn’t believe the new offer is that different from the old offer.

“The only thing that really changed was the 5% general wage increase. If you look at the other things just in what we’ve seen so far, all they did was just play the … shell game and shuffle money from one side of the table to the other. Took this from under this shell, put it under this shell and then pop all the shells off and you got the same thing,” White said to KIRO Newsradio. “So, nothing really changed. It’s going in the right direction, but it’s still not where it needs to be.”

White acknowledged that the 40% raise over four years likely won’t be attainable. But he did say Boeing can provide other benefits that will get the union back to the table and its members back to work.

“But you know (there are) …  other things that can be done in in order to entice us to come back,” White said. “You know I’m out here for these people that are just coming in. You know they’re trying to trying to survive when they’re paying $2,000 and $2,500 or $3,000 a month for for rent.”

When Jake Skorheim, one of the hosts of “The John and Jake Show,” asked White about other people at Boeing being furloughed because of this strike worried him, White was blunt in his response.

“No, not really,” he said. “The reason being is the union reached out to the company in March and got crickets. The companies keep saying that, ‘Oh no, we wanted to avoid a strike.’ Well, then why didn’t they negotiate and have it all reset in place so that when the day came boom, the new contract was in place and we were business as usual? That’s not what they did. They waited to the last minute and then they dangled out a small little carrot out there, hoping that we would bite and it didn’t happen.”

Going back to the other side, despite the contentious times, Boeing executives don’t view the workers as their enemies.

“It’s not just about the financial condition of our business, Johnson said. “The people on the picket line now, they’re not our enemy, they’re our team.”

Where Boeing stands now

The strike is likely already starting to reduce Boeing’s ability to generate cash. The company gets much of its cash when it delivers new planes, but the strike has shut down production of 737s, 777s and 767s. Work on 787s continues with nonunion workers in South Carolina.

On Friday, Boeing began requiring thousands of managers and nonunion employees to take one week off without pay every four weeks under the temporary rolling furloughs. It also has announced a hiring freeze, reduced business travel and decreased spending on suppliers.

The money-saving measures are expected to last as long as the strike continues.

Editors’ note: This story originally was published on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. It has been updated and republished multiple times since then.

Contributing: Sam Campbell and Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio; The Associated Press

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, or email him here.