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One of Boeing’s most important unions is calling a strike sanction vote as contract negotiations heat up. District 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents more than 30,000 of the planemaker’s Washington state-based employees, is holding a rally today at T-Mobile Park baseball stadium in Seattle, Washington. There, it will take the temperature on a mass work stoppage before its current collective bargaining agreement runs out at the end of the summer.
“The purpose is to show Boeing your solidarity on this one day in July so they will offer a fair contract to avoid a strike in September,” the union told its members.
The vote is not an explicit call for a strike, but it is being used to help prepare for one should it be needed. When Boeing presents the IAM with its best-and-final contract offer, another vote would be required for a strike to take place if the membership rejects that offer.
Bargaining started in March, and the last full contract negotiation was in 2008. A number of extensions have kept it in place since. Workers went on strike for eight weeks before an agreement was reached.
Some analysts have tied Boeing’s recent issues, including a January door plug blowout on a 737 Max 9, to its employees being underpaid and overworked. The union is seeking a 40% raise for workers over the next three years, alongside overtime rule, and other benefit changes. The Financial Times reports that the union is also seeking a seat on Boeing’s board.