The Biden White House supported a strike from Boeing factory workers on Friday, encouraging the aircraft manufacturer to come to the table “in good faith.”
“Administration officials are in touch with Boeing and the Machinists. We encourage them to negotiate in good faith — toward an agreement that gives employees the benefits they deserve and makes the company stronger,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said.
Factory workers at Boeing’s Washington and Oregon plants are walking off the job after voting to authorize a strike, dealing another blow to the aircraft giant. A tentative contract failed to deliver sufficient wage increases, the union said, voting 96% in favor of a strike on Thursday night.
Boeing, which has been under increased regulatory scrutiny and investor pressure after a number of high-profile failures and scandals this year, now faces another crisis as production grinds to a halt.
“The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members,” Boeing said in a statement to the Washington State Standard. “We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”
That tentative agreement, which included a proposed wage increase of just 25% over four years, fell short of the union’s ask of a 40% raise. IAM Union 751 President Jon Holden also accused the company of a variety of other unfair labor violations.
“On the shop floor, we had discriminatory conduct, we had coercive questioning, we had unlawful surveillance and we had unlawful promise of benefits” Holden said in a speech on Thursday night.
Though union leadership suggested members ratify the tentative agreement, writing that “we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike,” nearly 95% of workers rejected that contract.
The last Boeing machinist strike in 2008 lasted eight weeks, securing wage gains and a promise to outsource less plane manufacturing.