More than 3,200 unionized workers who assemble Boeing’s fighter jets in the St Louis area have gone on strike after rejecting Boeing’s latest offer on Sunday.
Boeing Defense said it was ready for Monday’s work stoppage and would implement a contingency plan that used non-labor workers.
“IAM District 837 members … deserve a contract that reflects their skill, dedication, and the critical role they play in our nation’s defense,” the union’s business representative, Tom Boelling, said on Sunday.
Last week, Boeing sent a new contract offer to the union with some minor compensation changes that would benefit senior union members, according to the company. The offer also kept current overtime policies, which Boeing had proposed modifying in the last contract offer.
The offer was largely the same as the first offer that was overwhelmingly rejected one week earlier.
Boeing has said that if the contract offer had been approved, the average annual wage would have risen to $102,600 – up from $75,000.
Dan Gillian, Boeing Air Dominance’s vice-president and general manager and a senior St Louis site executive, told the St Louis Business Journal: “We’re disappointed our employees rejected an offer that featured 40% average wage growth and resolved their primary issue on alternative work schedules. We are prepared for a strike and have fully implemented our contingency plan to ensure our non-striking workforce can continue supporting our customers.”
The workers assemble Boeing’s fighter jets and the MQ-25, an aerial refueling drone being developed for the US navy.
This is the first strike that Boeing has faced at its St Louis defense hub since 1996.
Boeing’s defense division is expanding manufacturing facilities in the St Louis area for the new US Air Force fighter, the F-47, after it won the contract this year.
Boeing’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, said last week that the planned strike would be much smaller than that of the 30,000-worker strike last year, when the company took a $661m charge on its KC-46 tanker development contract with the US air force.
“We’ll manage through this,” Ortberg said during an earnings call. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the implications of the strike.”
Boeing currently holds contracts for several major Defense Department programs, according to Defense News, including the air force’s F-47 and F-15EX fighters, T-7 training jet and the Air Force One recapitalization effort.