By Allison Lampert
(Reuters) – A preliminary labor deal agreed between Boeing and one of its largest unions has upset many workers who were hoping for bigger pay increases and better pensions, an official who negotiated the deal said on Monday.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents more than 32,000 workers in the American Northwest, announced the deal along with Boeing on Sunday, sending the aerospace giant’s shares higher on Monday.
It was not clear whether IAM members would vote to accept the deal, or choose to strike when they hold a vote Thursday, said Jon Holden, president of IAM District 751 and lead negotiator on the Boeing contract.
“They are angry,” Holden told Reuters, adding that he believed it was the best deal the union could get in negotiations.
“The power is within our membership on the floor,” he said when asked if he believed the agreement would be ratified.
The proposed four-year contract included a general wage increase of 25% and a commitment by Boeing to build its next commercial aircraft in the Seattle area, provided the aircraft program was launched within the four years of the contract.
Holden said many members wanted to hold out for a 40% wage increase during the contract period and a reinstatement of the defined benefit pension plan they reluctantly gave up during a round of negotiations a decade ago.
“It’s hard to come off 10 years when you’ve lost so many things that were critical,” Holden said.
If unionized workers vote down the deal and decide to strike, it would be a blow to Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took up his role last month with a mandate to improve safety and boost production of Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX passenger jet. .
Boeing is grappling with a quality crisis and facing scrutiny from regulators and customers after a door plug on a nearly new MAX blew off an Alaska Air jetliner in mid-air in January.
(Reporting by Allison Lampert; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Jamie Freed)