Boeing‘s USWest Coast factory workers voted to strike over pay starting midnight on Friday, halting production of the planemaker’s strongest-selling jet amidst output delays and debt struggles.
The strike comes after 96 per cent of workers voted in favour of a walkout, marking their first strike since 2008 coming just weeks after new CEO Kelly Ortberg took the helm to restore faith in the planemaker after a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX jet mid-air in January.
The strike involved around 30,000 workers in the Seattle and Portland areas, who rejected the company’s offer of a 25 per cent wage increase, $3,000 signing bonus, and a commitment to build Boeing’s next commercial jet in the Seattle area.
The workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), were voting on their first full contract in 16 years.
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