Aircraft manufacturer under pressure 33,000 Boeing employees strike for more pay

Boeing is already struggling with problems - and now there is also a strike. The union members rejected a pay rise.

The struggling aircraft manufacturer Boeing has not succeeded in averting a strike by its largest union with wage increases. On Thursday, the workers voted by an overwhelming majority of 96 percent in favor of a strike.

In the agreement with the IAM union, Boeing had promised an increase in income of 25 percent. The approximately 33,000 employees build the best-selling Boeing 737 model, among others, and the union had originally demanded a 40 percent increase. In the vote, the agreement was rejected with a majority of 94.6 percent of the votes.

Boeing makes several concessions - in vain

The increase in income negotiated on Sunday as well as improvements in health costs and retirement were to apply over the four-year term of the agreement. Last year, the union had also achieved increases of a similar magnitude at the US auto giants.

Boeing also agreed to build new models in the unionized plants. This was a key demand of the union after Boeing set up a plant without union representation in the state of South Carolina more than a decade ago to produce the 787 Dreamliner model.

Boeing is struggling with problems and losing money after a series of breakdowns. Among other things, the FAA is not allowing production of the 737 to be expanded until the company improves quality controls. New criticism was triggered by an incident in January in which a fragment of the 737-9 fuselage broke off during a climb. According to the accident investigation authority NTSB, the component was missing fastening elements.

SDA