Thousands of Boeing workers have voted to go on strike, halting production of the company’s bestselling jet.
The vote means around 33,000 workers who produce Boeing’s 737 MAX and other jets in the Seattle and Portland areas have downed tools after rejecting a pay deal.
The deal would have seen pay increase by 25 percent, a $3,000 signing bonus and a pledge to build Boeing’s next commercial jet in the Seattle area. However, workers voted to reject the deal after it fell short of the 40 percent pay increase they were asking for.
“This is about respect, this is about addressing the past, and this is about fighting for our future,” said Jon Holden, who headed the negotiations for The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers march toward the union’s hall in Renton, Washington, on Thursday. Thousands of Boeing workers have voted to go on strike, rejecting a pay deal from Boeing.
Stephen Brashear/AP
He added: “We strike at midnight.”
It is not clear how long the strike will last for. It comes after union representatives advised members to support the proposed deal.
Boeing workers voted 94.6 percent to reject the agreement, and 96 percent in favor of striking.
Following the vote, Boeing said in a statement: “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members.
“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.”
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who was appointed last month, had made a last ditch plea to workers, warning that a strike would put the company’s “recovery in jeopardy.”
Newsweek has contacted Boeing via email for further comment.
Holden told reporters that union representatives are going to “get back to the table as quickly as we can,” Reuters reported. He did not say when talks would resume.
“This is something that we take one day at a time, one week at a time,” he added.
The current contract between Boeing and the unions was reached in 2008 after an eight-week strike, which cost the company around $1.5 billion a month, according to credit rating agency Moody’s.
In 2014, the two sides agreed to extend the deal, which expired at midnight on Thursday. According to a pre-vote note from TD Cowen, if this strike lasts as long as the previous one, it would cost the company, which is already mired in debt, an estimated $3 billion to $3.5 billion of cash flow.
The strike is just the latest in a string of problems faced by the company in recent times.
Since January, the Boeing has faced multiple lawsuits after a faulty door panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane mid-flight.
Several passengers were injured in the incident, which grounded all 737 MAX 9s and prompted investigations by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board into the aircraft manufacturer.
Subsequent reports indicate that the plane lacked the crucial bolts required to secure the door plug when it left the factory.
Additionally, several whistleblowers have stepped forward, raising safety concerns about Boeing.
In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a fraud charge and a criminal fine of nearly $244 million in connection with the fatal crashes of two of its 737 Max planes more than five years ago.
On top of mounting financial losses, the aircraft manufacturer has been forced to slow down its assembly lines because of a production cap on the 737 Max imposed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Boeing has spent $68 billion on stock buy-backs and dividends since 2010.
In May, Boeing shareholders signed off on a $33 million pay deal for outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun.
