Long-awaited contract negotiations for 32,000 IAM members at Boeing in the Pacific Northwest have begun in Seattle. The current collective bargaining agreement expires at 12:01 a.m. PT on Sept. 13, 2024.
After years of input from membership, and 16 years since the group’s last full contract negotiations with the Boeing Co., the IAM District 751 and District W24 negotiating committee is pushing for many priorities, including:
- Increasing wages at least 40 percent over three to four years.
- Quality and safety measures that restore and grow quality control personnel and oversight of aircraft manufacturing.
- Restoring retirement security by reinstating the defined-benefit pension plan the company took away in 2014.
- Lowering out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
- Easing mandatory overtime and other work rules that negatively impact work-life balance.
- Ensuring that Boeing’s next airplane is built in the Puget Sound region.
“We need jobs for 50 years, not four years,” said IAM District 751 President and Directing Business Representative Jon Holden. “The fight for future work is not just for members, but for the betterment of all. This collective effort will benefit current and future members, engineers, other Boeing employees, the supply chain, our communities, and generations to come. We are fighting for everyone.”
“This is the first contract for almost half of our members, and it’s the most important one for all of them. We want to ensure their involvement from the beginning and educate them about what we’re doing on their behalf,” said IAM District W24 President and Directing Business Representative Brandon Bryant. “The membership is the lifeblood of our union and our districts. This contract negotiation is one of the most important things that we do for them. This is our future, this our fight. We are truly fighting for the best future we can get.”
A strike sanction vote, which authorizes a strike if a collective bargaining agreement is not reached, will take place on July 17, 2024.
“Our members – and no one else – will guide this process and be the ultimate deciders on their future,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “Our membership has made it very clear that they will accept nothing less than a fair and just contract that will make us the leading compensated aerospace workers in the world because we deserve nothing less than that. This is about building back the reputation of Boeing as the best, most dependable, most cutting-edge aerospace company on Earth.”
Click here for IAM District 751 updates throughout the collective bargaining process.
“Ultimately, the goal of these negotiations is to win fairness and justice for our members. This means ensuring that the contract reflects the values and priorities of IAM members and provides the means for a prosperous future for them and their families,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Gary R. Allen. “Achieving this goal will require a collective effort from all our members to come together in unity and fight for what they believe in, the IAM Western Territory is confident that, together, we can win a contract that sets the standard for the aerospace industry and raises our members and their families’ standard of living – Boeing has made billions and our members deserve to receive their fair share!”
IAM District 751 represents more than 30,000 Boeing production workers in the Puget Sound region, while District W24 represents about 1,200 who work at Boeing’s parts plant in Portland, Ore.
“The IAM and our membership are expecting Boeing to come to table ready to reach a fair and just agreement,” said IAM Resident General Vice President Jody Bennett. “Our membership deserves a contract that treats them as the best and most skilled aerospace workers in the world, because that’s exactly what they are. We will be fair, but firm, on all our priorities – especially on delivering job security to our membership.”
Negotiations Opener - Image Gallery
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