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Boeing workers in the Seattle region on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to strike, rejecting a new contract the embattled aviation giant had offered them.
Hourly workers rejected the contract with a vote of 94.6 percent and to strike with 96 percent, said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751.
"Our members spoke loud and clear tonight," said Holden, who represents about 33,000 workers in the Pacific Northwest. "We strike at midnight." A strike will shutter two major plane assembly plants in the Puget Sound region and sideline some 33,000 workers.
Thursday's vote marks a decisive rejection of a deal that line workers said was far less generous than depicted by Boeing executives, marking the latest show of defiance by unions following earlier strikes in the auto, entertainment and other industries.
Led by new CEO Kelly Ortberg, Boeing had hoped a 25-percent wage hike over four years and a commitment to invest in the Puget Sound region would avert a costly strike as the company struggles to right the ship.
Ortberg argued in a message to staff that the general wage hike marked the largest in history and that a strike "would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together."
But rank-and-file workers reacted with fury to the agreement, which was initially backed by IAM leadership.
Workers had sought a 40 percent wage hike and critics have said the 25 percent figure is inflated because the new deal also eliminates an annual company bonus.
Other points of contention include the deal's failure to restore a pension, as well as a Boeing pledge to build its next plane in the Seattle region, which critics view as a "hollow" commitment to the region because it offers no promises beyond the four-year contract.
Lewis Musonye
