Several thousand Boeing machinists in the Seattle area in the north-west of the United States voted on Wednesday in favour of striking if wage negotiations fail in September.
The IAM-District 751 union, which represents more than 30,000 employees of the American aircraft manufacturer in this region, announced that 99.9% of voters had given the go-ahead in a vote held in a huge stadium in the city.
According to the union, between 20,000 and 25,000 people attended the meeting, which was attended by several union leaders.
“Are you willing to go on strike to get the improvements you deserve? I know you are. We’ve been preparing for this for 10 years,” Jon Holden, president of District 751, the Seattle branch of the International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), told the crowd.
“We are also fighting to turn this company around. We have to save this company from itself,” he added, referring to the production and quality problems facing Boeing.
“They’ve put our livelihood at risk. This is about our jobs. This is about our heritage. This is about our reputation,” Holden continued, criticising the group’s management for “eliminating the people and the procedures that are crucial to making a safe aircraft.”
For the game, IAM District 751 booked T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, with a capacity of 48,000 spectators.
Boeing and IAM-District 751 began negotiations on March 8 to draft a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the 16-year-old one that expires at midnight on September 12.
“We remain optimistic about reaching an agreement that balances the needs of our employees with the business realities facing the company,” Boeing told AFP before the vote.
When contacted after the vote, the company reiterated this statement.
The union is calling for a “substantial” pay rise of at least 40% over three years, as well as better benefits (health insurance, pensions, cost of living, etc.) and job security, Holden said.
Source: With information from AFP.