USA Boeing offers striking workers a 30 percent pay rise

A strike by thousands of workers is threatening to set the struggling aircraft manufacturer Boeing back even further. The company is now making some concessions. The union is also critical of the new offer.

Boeing is offering its striking employees a 30 percent pay rise. This is an improvement after the workers overwhelmingly rejected the previous proposal of 25 percent. In the view of the union leadership, this concession does not go far enough. They also criticized the fact that the aircraft manufacturer set a deadline of 27 September for the acceptance of this "best and final" offer. There would be no vote on the proposal before then.

The union entered the negotiations with the demand for a 40 percent increase in income over the four-year term of the contract. Boeing workers had accepted several zero wage increases over the past decade. Some complained in the US media that as an aircraft assembler you sometimes earn less than in the kitchen of a burger restaurant.

Boeing wanted to cut bonus payments

Boeing's new proposal includes bonus payments, which were to be abolished. This was a point that particularly angered the workforce. In addition, the planned one-off payment will be doubled to 6000 dollars. Last year, workers at the three US car giants also won a 25 percent pay rise through weeks of strike action.

The largest Boeing union, the IAM, with around 33,000 employees, went on strike in mid-September. Its members had rejected the company's previous proposal with a majority of around 95 percent.

Strike hits the heart of Boeing

The work stoppage affects Boeing production around Seattle in the north-west of the USA, where the best-selling 737 model and the long-haul 777 jet are built. Boeing is already behind schedule with deliveries to many airlines, particularly for the 737.

The Airbus competitor is in crisis after a series of breakdowns and is struggling with high losses. Following an incident in January in which a fuselage section of an almost new Boeing aircraft tore out shortly after take-off, the company is not allowed to expand production of the 737 series until further notice.

Boeing's response to the strike included a hiring freeze. In addition, employees were placed on leave and business trips were reduced to a minimum.

The union last went on strike in 2008. The strike lasted 57 days and cost the company around two billion dollars, according to analysts' estimates.

SDA