Boeing Strike Could Drag On As Workers Push For Higher Wages

A strike at Boeing "could go on for a while" as workers are confident they can secure bigger wage increases and an improved pension, union leader Jon Holden said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Joe Brock reported for Reuters.

Boeing and union negotiators are set to return to the bargaining table next week in talks overseen by U.S. federal mediators. I Photo: Machinists Union Facebook

More than 30,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), who produce Boeing's top-selling 737 MAX and other jets in Seattle and Portland, began a strike on Friday after overwhelmingly voting down a new contract.

Boeing and union negotiators are set to return to the bargaining table next week in talks overseen by U.S. federal mediators after more than 94% of workers voted to reject an initial contract offer that Holden had endorsed.

Holden stated that the priorities for his members include a bigger wage increase and the restoration of a defined-benefit pension scheme, which the IAM lost during a previous round of negotiations with Boeing a decade ago.