Boeing Machinists take to the streets outside Everett plant

EVERETT — Aerospace mechanic Bartley Stokes Sr. loves Boeing, always has.

Yet for the fifth time since he joined Boeing in 1978, Stokes walked off the job with other machinists in overwhelming protest of the company’s latest contract offer.

“They took away things we had in our previous contract and then adjusted it and put it somewhere else to make it look like they were doing something great for us,” Stokes said Friday.

Stokes and more than 100 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 picketed at two gates of Boeing’s Everett plant on Friday on the first day of the eighth strike in the union’s history with Boeing.

Union workers at the Everett plant spent Thursday voting on whether to accept the latest contract offer from Boeing or reject it and authorize a strike. Employees held similar voting in other locations in Washington and Oregon.

The result: Nearly 95% of 33,000 members voted to reject the contract that Boeing touted as “historic,” and 96% voted to authorize a strike.

At IAM headquarters, members cheered as union chief Jon Holden announced the results late Thursday night. He alleged unfair labor practices from Boeing, including “discriminatory conduct, coercive questioning, unlawful surveillance and we had unlawful promise of benefits.”

Holden congratulated members in the room and those watching a livestream on YouTube.

“This is about respect, this is about addressing the past and this is about fighting for our future,” Holden told the crowd. “We strike at midnight.”

The deal agreed to Sunday called for a 25% wage increase for 33,000 union members.

The union had originally been advocating for raises of about 40%, according to Bloomberg. The income increase, as well as improvements to health care costs and retirement benefits, would be applied over four years.

“Realistically, it’s not a historic contract. It’s a hysterical contract,” Stokes said.

Boeing released a statement late Thursday after the results of the vote.

“The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members,” the statement read. “We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”

On Friday morning, union members waved red-and-white signs that said “On strike against Boeing.”

Workers cheered and waved as cars honked in support. A white van moved up and down Airport Road, offering food, drinks and other relief to members on strike.

It was a type of morale boost Stokes hasn’t seen for some time.

Stokes has worked on the 747, 767 and for the past 22 years, the 777 aircraft for the aerospace giant.

A job at Boeing used to seem like a career, Stokes said. Working there used to feel more like a family, he said.

That’s all changed.

“It’s been a wonderful company,” Stokes said. “I love Boeing. But it hasn’t been the same since the merger.”

Stokes is referring to when McDonnell Douglas completed its merger with Boeing in August 1997.

He said workers deserve more than Boeing’s latest contract offer.

“They took away incentives. They took away our morale.” Stokes said.

Boeing’s Chief Financial Officer Brian West told an investor conference Friday that the company’s leaders were disappointed with the rejection and strike. But they remain committed to negotiate a new deal.

“There was a disconnect,” West said at the Morgan Stanley event, warning the strike would impact airplane deliveries and production. He declined to provide specifics, saying it would depend on how long it lasts.

Stokes and others are willing to stay on strike as long as needed to get a fair deal.

“We just need to be paid appropriately,” Stokes said.

Michael Henneke: 425-339-3431; michael.henneke@heraldnet.com; X: @ihenpecked.