Boeing workers have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike rejecting one of the best pay deals ever offered by the company.
According to the Seattle Times Boeing’s 33,000 machinists were instructed to walk out at 12:01 a.m. Friday and stay out indefinitely.
International Association of Machinists District 751 President Jon Holden, who on Sunday urged members to accept the deal, said: “This is about respect, this is about addressing the past and this is about fighting for our future.” Holden told the crowd. “We strike at midnight.”
The Seattle Times reported that he said 94.6% voted to reject the contract and 96% voted to strike, more than the two-thirds majority required by union rules to authorize a walkout.
“I’m proud of our members, proud of them for standing up and fighting for more, for each other, for their families, for the community. We’re going to get back to the table as quickly as we can,” he said, “We’ll certainly engage so that we can try to resolve the issues and address what the members’ needs are.”
The major issue appears to be that the pay increase of 25% over four years came with tradeoffs that machinists say cut the increase to 10%.
Boeing has not commented as yet.
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