Source: AFP
Talks between Boeing and striking workers at the US plant will resume on Tuesday under a federal mediator, the union said, after workers voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal from the aerospace giant.
“On Tuesday, the Union will meet with federal mediators assigned through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and Boeing to begin discussions,” a chapter of the engineers union called IAM-District 751, which represents more than 33,000 union members in the Seattle area, it said late Saturday on its website.
Boeing did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
Since the strike began Friday in a wage dispute, Boeing’s first walkout in 16 years, the company has said it is willing to return to the bargaining table.
Union leaders called for the strike shortly after hourly workers in the Seattle-area Pacific Northwest rejected a tentative contract offer with 94.6 percent of the vote and voted in favor of the strike with 96 percent.
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The last strike, in 2008, lasted 57 days.
Federal mediators had said Friday night that talks would resume early next week, but did not set a date.
“Now is the time to stand up — show Boeing that our voices aren’t just loud, they’re unstoppable,” said IAM-District 751.
He added: “Let our presence on the picket lines reverberate across the country and beyond. We are stronger than ever and we will not back down.”
The strike shut down two major airplane assembly plants for the 737 MAX and 777 in the Puget Sound region, further delaying efforts to turn around the financially struggling company.
Boeing, led by new CEO Kelly Ortberg, had hoped a 25 percent wage increase over four years and a commitment to invest in the Puget Sound region would be enough.
However, chief constables described it as a slap in the face after more than a decade of almost stagnant wages.
Source: AFP
