The Boeing machinists strike has now entered its 47th day with no scheduled talks for negotiations between the two parties.
SEATTLE — Boeing’s machinists have been on strike for more than six weeks with no clear end in sight. Last week machinists voted down a new contract offer from Boeing by 64%.
“I think if they bring up our sign-in bonus to ten grand, raise our AMP and raise our VIP for the young kids I think it will pass but they’re not doing that, Matt O’Brien, who is now striking for the fifth time against Boeing, said. “We’re here for the younger generation to keep it fair.” Alongside O’Brien at one of the picketing sites is Jon Andrews, who is striking for his fourth time against the company.
“Us older people now we want to fight for the younger people and get our pension back,” Andrews said.
In addition to delays caused by the FAA’s grounding of the 737 MAX 9 earlier this year, the strike is now causing more issues.
Southwest Airlines reported that it initially requested 85 aircraft from Boeing for 2024 and said they are now expecting just 20 of those. The airline says that 19 of the 20 have been delivered so far.
American Airlines said Boeing makes up about 1% of its fleet. The company said it is not expecting any more 737 deliveries this year and expects one more 787, which are produced in South Carolina.
At this point both Boeing and the union said they do not have any talks scheduled. KING 5 also reached out to the U.S. Department of Labor to see if they will step in again to help with negotiations and are waiting to hear back.