This is a long-term social conflict that has just ended at Boeing. After four consecutive rejections, about 3,200 employees of the St. Petersburg plant Louis, St. Louis Charles and Mascoutah validated the enhanced agreement proposed by management of Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security division. In doing so, they ended the strike that began on August 4, which ended as successfully as that of Boeing Commercial Airplanes employees in Washington State last year. For Kelly Ortberg, the group’s general manager, these problems have eased as he still has several major projects to carry out to continue the recovery of the American giant.
Details of the vote have not been communicated, but the results of previous attempts to reach an agreement (51% against and 49% on October 26), suggest that little can be done to find agreement between management and employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). A ratification bonus that doubled to $6,000, cash payments instead of securities, adjusted rate increases, and most importantly, a guarantee of no layoffs made the deal possible.
