Boeing defense workers launch strike over contract dispute
"This is about respect and dignity, not empty promises."
It came hours after the union said in a statement that members at Boeing facilities in Missouri and Illinois had voted to reject a modified four-year labor agreement with Boeing.
The St. Louis local's stoppage follows a bruising Boeing strike last fall in the Pacific Northwest region of some 33,000 workers that halted production at factories that assemble Boeing commercial planes.
Local broadcast media showed footage of workers picketing outside the St. Louis factory.
Members of the union's local chapter "have spoken loud and clear, they deserve a contract that reflects their skill, dedication, and the critical role they play in our nation's defense," said IAM District 837 representative Tom Boelling.
The American aerospace giant's initial proposal, which included a 20 percent wage increase over four years and more vacation time, was rejected a week earlier.
The new offer doubled the wage increase, according to Boeing.
"We're disappointed our employees rejected an offer that featured 40 percent average wage growth and resolved their primary issue on alternative work schedules," Dan Gillian, Boeing Air Dominance vice president and senior St. Louis, Missouri site executive, said in a statement.
"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 storied company has been in crisis since last year due to production quality issues and a seven-week strike that crippled two of Boeing's major assembly plants.
IAM is one of North America's largest unions, representing some 600,000 members in aerospace, defense, shipbuilding, transportation, health care, manufacturing and other industries.
Products produced at Boeing's St. Louis operation include the F-15 and F-18 combat aircraft, the T-7 Red Hawk Advanced Pilot Training System and the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft. The site was originally part of the McDonnell Douglas company, which Boeing acquired in 1997.
Boeing Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg described the business hit from the strike in Missouri as manageable, noting that the operation has a far smaller number of workers compared with those who went on the picket lines last fall.
"I wouldn't worry too much about the implications of the strike," Ortberg said on an earnings conference call. "We'll manage our way through that."
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