33,000 workers force Boeing to back down: Agreement reached with union
US-based aviation giant Boeing has stepped back from the brink of a major strike involving 33,000 workers. The company has reached a tentative agreement with the union that includes a 33 percent wage increase. Workers will soon head to the polls to vote on the deal.
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According to reports in the US press, a tentative agreement has been signed between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which has approximately 33,000 members, regarding wages, healthcare, and job security.
Under the agreement, workers' wages will increase by 33 percent over the 4-year contract. This rate is lower than the 40 percent the union demanded during negotiations. Workers will vote on the tentative agreement reached between Boeing and the union in Washington and South Carolina on September 12. If the contract is not accepted, there is a possibility that workers will go on strike.
It is noted that a potential strike would further increase the challenges facing Boeing, which reported a net loss of approximately 1.44 billion dollars in the second quarter of this year and announced that its revenue had fallen by 14.6 percent.
8-WEEK STRIKE COST 100 MILLION DOLLARS
The 8-week strike in 2008, which was the longest strike at Boeing since the 10-week strike in 1995, cost the company approximately 100 million dollars per day in deferred revenue.
It is stated that Boeing is in a much worse financial situation than it was in 2008. The company has lost 27 billion dollars since the crashes of its best-selling "737 Max" passenger planes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019.
Although Boeing's revenue has decreased and its debt has increased, it is emphasized that the company has a massive backlog of orders valued at more than 500 billion dollars.