Boeing Withdraws 30% Pay Offer After Talks with Striking Machinists Collapse

Boeing on Tuesday withdrew its sweetened thirty percent wage increase proposal and abruptly terminated mediated labor contract negotiations with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, plunging the embattled planemaker deeper into crisis.

The collapse of two days of intensive talks supervised by federal mediators leaves approximately 33,000 machinists on picket lines across Washington state, Oregon, and California, paralyzing assembly lines for bestselling 737 MAX, 777, and 767 commercial jets.

Deadlock Deepens Between Aerospace Giant and Machinists

IAM District 751 leadership maintained its demand for a forty percent general wage increase over four years alongside the reinstatement of traditional defined-benefit pensions eliminated in a contentious 2014 contract amendment.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive Stephanie Pope stated that the union refused to seriously consider company concessions regarding bonuses and retirement contributions, insisting on non-viable financial terms.

“The union made demands that were non-negotiable and far exceeded what we can accept while preserving our business. Further negotiations do not make sense at this point.” — Stephanie Pope, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes

Financial Strain Mounts Across Commercial Aviation Supply Chain

Wall Street credit rating agencies have warned that a prolonged work stoppage threatens Boeing's investment-grade credit rating, draining more than one billion dollars in operational cash reserves every month.

The industrial standoff presents newly installed Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg with his most formidable operational challenge, forcing rolling furloughs of tens of thousands of white-collar staff and straining hundreds of aerospace parts suppliers.

Sources

• Boeing Media Relations
• IAM District 751