Boeing’s United States West Coast factory workers stood in long lines to vote on Thursday on a much-criticised new contract, some loudly calling for a strike, piling pressure on the planemaker as it wrestles with chronic production delays and mounting debt.
A potential strike could start on Friday, which would be a big early blow to new CEO Kelly Ortberg, brought on last month to restore faith in the planemaker after a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX jet in midair in January.
Roughly 30,000 workers who produce Boeing’s 737 MAX, 767 and 777 jets in the Seattle and Portland areas are voting on their first full contract in 16 years.
Polling will close at 6pm local time (01:00 GMT Friday) and the result will be announced this evening, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said. If a strike is sanctioned, it could start at midnight.
The proposed deal includes a general wage increase of 25 percent, a $3,000 signing bonus and a pledge to build Boeing’s next commercial jet in the Seattle area, provided the programme is launched within the four years of the contract.
Although the IAM leadership recommended its members accept the deal on Sunday, some workers have responded angrily, with many arguing for the originally demanded 40 percent pay rise and lamenting the loss of an annual bonus.
On Thursday, a line of workers waiting to vote snaked along the street outside the union’s offices in Renton, the Seattle suburb where Boeing makes its best-selling 737 jet. Some held signs and others chanted “strike”. All of several Boeing workers who spoke to Reuters news agency said they were voting to strike, and were confident the bulk of union members would do the same, although more than 20 declined to say what they planned.
Under complicated union rules, two-thirds must vote in favour of a strike for the action to begin. With anything less than that, the contract will go into effect.
“I’m ready to go on strike for as long as necessary to get everything that we deserve,” said Josh King, a 36-year-old quality inspector. “Normally, a strike doesn’t bring a worse offer, it always brings a better offer.”
In a sign some workers were already preparing for picket lines, one union member left the meeting on Wednesday carrying a placard under her arm that read: “On Strike Against Boeing.”
Workers have been protesting all week in Boeing factories in the Seattle area that assemble Boeing’s MAX, 777 and 767 jets.
One member wearing a high-visibility vest shouted, “Time to strike, baby!” as he exited the building after casting his vote.
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