SEATTLE – Boeing Co. machinists voted overwhelmingly to go out on strike Thursday, calling the jetmaker’s new contract offer insulting.
The strike was approved by a majority of 86 percent, much more than the required two-thirds needed for a walkout.
Picket lines were expected to follow shortly after midnight on Thursday.
Machinists union president Mark Blondin, who recommended the walkout, referred to the company’s contract “an insulting, takeaway, sellout job-stealing offer.”
His announcement of the voting results were met by cheers from union members, many of whom believed they were doing more than just turning down a contract. A number of workers said earlier they were sending Boeing a message about a number of issues – from job losses, to small pension increases to ethical lapses by management – that has left them angry.
“I’ve never voted for a strike before. I’ve been there 26 years,” said Bruce Poliak, an air conditioning technician from Silvana. But the company’s unwillingness to offer bigger Machinist pensions – after new chief executive James McNerney got a $22 million retirement package – prompted him to vote against the contract and for a walkout, he said.
Boeing’s final offer included:
* Lump-sum payments of $3,000 in each of the first two years of the contract. Machinists could have opted to roll those payments into their 401(k)-style Boeing retirement accounts. The company would have matched that 50 percent, making the total $4,500 in each year.
* A 2.5-percent wage increase for Puget Sound workers in the third year of the contract, plus 1 percent cost-of-living increases in each year.
* An incentive program that would award Machinists five extra days’ pay if the company hits profit targets – $1,100 on average. Payouts would have been on a sliding scale that would give up to 15 days’ pay if the company surpassed the targets.
* Two zero-premium options for health insurance, although employees would have been required to take part in wellness programs to qualify. Employees who picked health care options that had premiums could have earned $20 monthly credits by taking part in wellness programs as well.
The average Machinist would have made $62,000 a year at the end of the contract, Boeing said, up from an average of $59,500 now.
But Machinists voting on the contract Thursday in Everett were not impressed.
“With everything that’s going on, on the upswing, there’s no doubt in my mind they could do much better, said Brad Stokes of Everett, who works on 777 interiors.
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