The union representing striking Boeing workers said Tuesday that the aerospace giant “does not take mediation seriously” after some 33,000 U.S. workers walked off the job last week over a contract dispute, effectively closing two factories in the Seattle area.
“We will not mince our words: after a full day of mediation, we are frustrated,” said a statement from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) after its representatives met with Boeing negotiators.
“The company was unprepared and unwilling to address the issues you have made clear are essential to ending this strike: wages and pensions. The company does not appear to take mediation seriously,” the statement said.
It added that mediation between the union and Boeing would continue on Wednesday.
“Today, we ask Boeing not to miss the opportunity to recognize its workers by presenting a contract that can resolve this labor dispute so we can get back to building and delivering Boeing airplanes,” the union said in a statement.
Members of IAM District 751 have been protesting 24 hours a day following the early Friday morning strike that closed factories in Renton and Everett where the 737 MAX and 777 are assembled.
Boeing had high hopes of averting a strike after reaching a tentative agreement with IAM management on Sept. 8. The deal included a 25 percent across-the-board wage increase over four years, reduced mandatory overtime and a pledge to build the next new plane in the Puget Sound region.
However, workers in general criticized the deal as insufficient. They found the 25 percent figure misleading and inadequate, since the agreement provided for the elimination of an annual bonus for workers.
Workers were also unhappy about other elements of the agreement, including the failure to restore pensions. And they said the commitment to build the new plane in Puget Sound needed to be strengthened beyond the four-year term of the contract.
The anger comes after more than a decade of wages virtually stagnating as consumer inflation weighed on budgets.
bjt/mtp
