SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� Aircraft assembly workers walked off the job early Friday at Boeing factories near Seattle after overwhelmingly to go on strike and reject a tentative contract that would have increased wages by 25% over four years.
The strike started at 12:01 a.m. PDT, less than three hours after the local branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced 94.6% of voting workers rejected the proposed and 96% approved the work stoppage, easily surpassing a two-thirds requirement.
The labor action involves 33,000 Boeing machinists, most of them in Washington state, and is expected to shut down production of the company鈥檚 best-selling airline planes. The strike will not affect commercial flights but represents another setback for the aerospace giant, whose and have been battered by manufacturing problems and multiple federal investigations this year.
The striking machinists assemble , Boeing鈥檚 best-selling airliner, along with the 777, or 鈥渢riple-seven鈥� jet, and the 767 cargo plane at factories in Renton and Everett, Washington. The walkout likely will not stop production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which are built by nonunion .
Outside the Renton factory, people stood with signs reading, 鈥淗istoric contract my ass鈥� and 鈥淗ave you seen the damn housing prices?鈥� Car horns honked and a boom box played songs such as Twisted Sister鈥檚 鈥淲e鈥檙e Not Gonna Take It鈥� and Taylor Swift鈥檚 鈥淟ook What You Made Me Do.鈥�
Boeing responded to the strike announcement by saying it was 鈥渞eady to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.鈥�
鈥淭he 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,鈥� the company said in a statement.
David Koenig, Manuel Valdes And Lindsey Wasson, The Associated Press
