Asks Lawmakers To Stand With Employees

The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, or IAM, issued a call to Missouri’s Congressional delegation to stand with the union’s more than 3,000 workers who are on strike at Boeing fighter jet plants in the St. Louis area and Illinois.

The union issued its appeal on August 13, following the workers’ walkout on August 4 after rejecting a second contract offer from the defense company.

Brian Bryant, President of IAM, wrote a letter to U.S. Representatives and Senators indicating that the organization is ready and willing to return to the negotiating table.

According to local media, Bryant wrote, “Throughout these negotiations, the union has presented the company with a number of viable solutions to adequately meet our members’ needs. Our members rightly believe the compensation package offered by the company is not adequate given the recent economic trends of high inflation and skyrocketing demand for highly skilled aerospace workers.”

“We remain ready and willing to listen to any constructive proposals from the union,” said Dan Gillian, a Boeing Vice President and Senior St. Louis Site Executive in an email.

The strike action puts more pressure on Boeing’s efforts to improve its financial picture while recovering from the fallout from two fatal crashes and quality control issues at its commercial aircraft manufacturing plants.

The union workers on strike build the F-15 fighter, T-7 training jet, missiles, munitions, and components for the 777X commercial aircraft.

This strike is much smaller in comparison to the walkout in 2024 which saw 33,000 strike at production plants for commercial aircraft. That action brought manufacturing in the Seattle area almost to a complete halt for weeks and led to the company selling equity worth almost $24 billion.

FMI:  www.goiam.org/