Boeing announced Tuesday the withdrawal of the offer made to the IAM machinists union, which it accuses of having made unreasonable demands, and the suspension of discussions aimed at ending the strike which has paralyzed its two main factories since mid -september.
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The American aircraft manufacturer made this decision, made official by an internal communication consulted by AFP, after a third round of two-day negotiations, which ended on Tuesday.
The IAM (International Association of Machinists) union has declared a strike since September 13, affecting 33,000 members in the Seattle region, birthplace of Boeing.
The group’s two main factories, in Renton (which produces the 737, its best-selling aircraft) and Everett (which produces the 777 and houses several military programs), are among the sites completely shut down.
In the internal letter, Boeing’s head of commercial aviation, Stephanie Pope, states that the aircraft manufacturer’s management submitted new proposals, improved compared to the previous version, during this third round of discussions.
The group has notably increased net salary and retirement pensions, according to the manager.
“Unfortunately, the union did not take these proposals seriously,” preferring, according to her, to make “non-negotiable” demands that far exceed the limits of what is acceptable if we want to remain competitive.”
“Therefore, continuing negotiations would not make sense at this stage and we have withdrawn our offer,” concluded Stephanie Pope.
Boeing nevertheless says it is ready, according to her, for new talks once the IAM is ready “to discuss an agreement that is respectful of our employees and preserves the future of our company”.
“We stand together”
“We will win our case,” reacted the IAM in a press release published on its site, affirming that Boeing had refused “to offer any (new) salary increase”, or measure of career progression, or contribution to the fund. employee pension.
The union plans to carry out a survey of its members next week to define “the priorities” of this negotiation.
“We stand together collectively,” launched the IAM, “united and ready to take up the challenge against one of the most powerful companies in the world.”
The union, despite everything, declared itself “ready to continue discussions directly or via a mediator”.
Two rounds of negotiations (September 17 and 18, then September 27) have already taken place in the presence of federal mediators to try to reach a new four-year social agreement.
A draft agreement was rejected on September 12 – the expiration date of the previous agreement – by nearly 95% of the members of IAM-District 751, the local branch of the union.
They were not satisfied with the proposals, in particular in terms of salary increases (+25% instead of the +40% requested) and retirement. They voted 96% to strike.
On September 23, excluding mediation, Boeing sent an offer described as “best” and “final”, including a 30% salary increase. It was rejected by the union leadership.
The manufacturer, which is going through a difficult period due to production quality problems, has taken measures to preserve its cash flow during the walkout.
In particular, he resorted to technical unemployment, which affects tens of thousands of group employees.
The financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced on Tuesday that it had placed Boeing’s ratings on negative watch because of the strike, meaning that the American aircraft manufacturer could enter the category of speculative borrowers.
Several American media have indicated that the manufacturer was considering a capital increase of at least ten billion dollars to raise new money.
