US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has reached a preliminary agreement with a union that could prevent a large-scale strike planned for September 13. As part of this agreement, a 25% increase in employee salaries is provided, informs Reuters.
The deal could lead to a four-year contract that includes an overall 25% pay increase and a commitment by Boeing to build new commercial aircraft in the Seattle area. It’s a significant achievement for the company’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who took over last month to improve quality on the company’s production lines.
It will be the first comprehensive labor agreement in 16 years, and will also include improved pension benefits and increased union influence over safety and quality issues. The union, which represents more than 32,000 workers in the US Pacific Northwest region, described the deal as “the best contract” ever made. A final decision on whether to approve the contract is expected on September 12, when union members will vote.
If the agreement is not supported by the majority, a strike is possible if two-thirds of the workers vote to stop production.
In 2019, the operation of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was banned in the United States after two plane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Later, the facts of the collusion between Boeing management and the US Federal Civil Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding the concealment of malfunctions in the software were revealed.
The investigation found that the FAA even went after whistleblowers who tried to warn about safety problems. As a result, Boeing was forced to pay $20 billion in fines and lose $60 billion due to the cancellation of orders for 737 MAX aircraft. In addition, the company paid $2.5 billion to settle a fraud case brought by the US government.
After re-certifying the planes, in January 2023, a door flew off one of Alaskan Airlines’ 737 MAX planes. In May, the FAA opened a new investigation into allegations of falsification of records related to the Boeing 787 aircraft.
These scandals caused serious financial problems for the company, and in July Boeing reported a loss of more than $1.4 billion for the second quarter.
