IAM District 837 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) has issued a statement regarding its ongoing strike against Boeing in St. Louis. The union criticized Boeing’s approach to negotiations, saying the company refuses to change the economic terms of its offer.
“Since the strike began, Boeing has continued to back itself into a corner.
The company keeps saying it will not change the ‘economic parameters’ of its offer. That’s not strength and that’s not bargaining — that’s stubbornness. And it’s a strategy that’s failing fast.
To put this in perspective, we estimate that the difference in added costs between the union’s latest proposal — which Boeing summarily rejected without even offering a counter — is approximately $8 million more over four years when compared to the first four years of the company’s latest five-year offer.
Every day this strike continues, Boeing moves further away from meeting its obligations to our military and our allies, to its investors, and to taxpayers — all over $8 million spread across four years. At the same time, this company has handed out $100 million in golden parachutes to failed CEOs, reported $23 billion in third-quarter revenue, and sits on a $76 billion defense backlog.
It’s clear that the company is simply doing this to try to break you — and to break your union. It’s not going to work. And it shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone who counts on Boeing that they’re putting ego over military production and national security.
Boeing can’t spin or stall its way out of this. The only path forward is to sit down and negotiate with the skilled, experienced workforce that actually builds these aircraft and keeps our national defense strong.
Your IAM District 837 Bargaining Committee remains ready to reach a fair and realistic agreement — one that respects your value, restores dignity on the shop floor, and gets our members back to doing the work that only you can do.
Stay strong. Stay united. Boeing chose this fight — and only bargaining in good faith will end it.”
The union claims there is an $8 million gap between their proposal and Boeing’s offer for a four-year period but points out that Boeing has spent much larger sums on executive severance packages, posted significant quarterly revenues, and holds a substantial defense contract backlog.
