Boeing factory workers gather on a picket line during the first day of a strike near the entrance of a production facility in Renton, Washington.
Credit: Reuters Photo
By Julie Johnsson
Boeing Co. and its largest labor union are heading back to the bargaining table on Monday in a bid to end a three-week strike that’s shut down airplane manufacturing in Oregon and Washington.
The talks, which are being led by a federal mediator, will resume at 9 am Pacific time, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a statement on Friday that was seperately confirmed by Boeing. The two sides have been deeply divided over pensions and pay, the union has said in previous dispatches.
Boeing’s shares hit session highs after the announcement following weeks of little progress toward ending the company’s first strike in 16 years. The stock rose 3 per cent by the close of Friday trading in New York.
Hopes have been fading for a speedy resolution to Boeing’s labor strife even after dockworkers at US East and Gulf coast ports quickly ended their walkout with an agreement that would boost wages by about 61.5 per cent over six years.
Negotiators for Boeing and IAM District 751 have met only three times since 33,000 workers walked off the job on Sept. 13, following a near-unanimous vote to strike. They last met Sept. 27 and were dismissed by the mediator after the session proved fruitless.
“A resolution with the IAM stands as a priority for me,” Boeing Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg said in a message to employees on Friday.
Both the company and its factory workers face growing financial pressure that may spur a renewed interest in breaking the impasse.
The strike’s cost to Boeing may approach $100 million a day in lost revenue with deliveries largely halted and its factories for the 737 Max and other jetliners shut down, analyst Cai von Rumohr of TD Cowen said in an Oct. 1 research note. Boeing is also exploring selling at least $10 billion in stock to help shore up its finances, Bloomberg has reported.
The company’s striking Machinists are starting to feel the impact from the impasse, as well. Their company-sponsored health care lapsed on Sept. 30, and their last paycheck was on Sept. 19. More than a dozen lawmakers have visited workers on the picket lines in a show of solidarity, IAM said in a separate statement on Friday.