Boeing Co. has put forward a modified contract for about 2,500 union members at three defense locations near St. Louis, days after the workers voted to reject a previous draft and begin a strike next week.
“This new offer builds on our previous strong, highly competitive one and directly addresses the issues raised by our employees,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. “We are hopeful they will vote yes.”
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 acknowledged the new contract offer on the union’s website, and said negotiations have been extended through Wednesday. The workers had been set to strike starting Monday.
Priorities in the negotiations are wages, strengthening 401(k) retirement plans and eliminating a two-tier wage system, according to the union.
“We cannot accept a contract that is not fair and equitable, as this company continues to make billions of dollars each year off the backs of our hardworking members,” it said earlier this week.
Lump Sum
The new contract would provide an $8,000 lump sum that can be taken in cash or deferred to 401(k) plans while maintaining its existing Boeing 401(k) plan. It also would increase the hourly second shift pay differential and provide wage increases for everyone in every year of the contract.
The union didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the changes.
The workers in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, and Mascoutah, Illinois, build military aircraft including the F-15, F-18, T-7A trainer and the MQ-25 unmanned refueler.
The contentious negotiations may portend an equally tough time for Boeing in the next round of contract talks for IAM’s much larger contingent at the company’s Seattle commercial-aircraft operations, which has about 30,000 Machinists members in a separate bargaining unit.
Boeing said in May that it’s moving its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia, to be nearer decision-makers at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the US government.
