The risk of a strike at Boeing appears to be growing, as factory workers complain about a contract offer that their union negotiated with the giant aircraft manufacturer.
The president of the union local that represents 33,000 Boeing workers predicted that they will vote against a deal that includes 25% raises over four years and a promise that the company's next new airplane will be built by union members in Washington state.
“The response from people is, it’s not good enough,” Jon Holden, the president of the union local, told The Seattle Times newspaper.
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in the Seattle area and machinists at other locations in Washington and California are scheduled to vote Thursday on the Boeing offer and, if they reject it, whether to go on strike beginning Friday.
Union members have gone on social media to complain about the deal. Hundreds protested during a lunch break at their plant in Everett, Washington, chanting, “Strike! Strike! Strike!” according to the Seattle Times.
Holden, who joined the union bargaining committee in unanimously endorsing the contract, told the newspaper he doesn’t believe he can secure the votes to ratify the proposed contract.
Boeing did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Unlike strikes at airlines, which are very rare, a walkout at Boeing would not have an immediate effect on consumers. It would not result in any canceled flights. It would, however, shut down production and leave Boeing with no jets to deliver to the airlines that ordered them.
On Sunday, the company and the union local, IAM District 751, announced they had reached a tentative agreement that featured the 25% wage hike and would avoid a suspension of work on building planes, including the 737 Max and the larger 777 widebody jet.
The deal fell short of the union’s initial demand for pay raises of 40% over three years and restoration of traditional pensions that were eliminated in union concessions a decade ago. Workers would get $3,000 lump-sum payments, increased contributions to retirement accounts and the commitment about working on the next Boeing airplane.
Holden said in a message to members Monday, “We have achieved everything we could in bargaining, short of a strike. We recommended acceptance because we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike.”
A strike would add to setbacks at Boeing. The company, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has lost $27 billion since the start of 2019 and is trying to fix huge problems in both aircraft manufacturing and its defense and space business. A new CEO has been on the job a little over a month.
Boeing shares were down 3% in afternoon trading.
FILE - Cristina Green waves a towel to machinists and fellow union members for a "stop work meeting" and strike sanction at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, July 17, 2024. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File)
FILE - Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are shown on the assembly line during a media tour at the Boeing facility in Renton, Wash., June 25, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, Pool, File)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Venezuela’s main opposition coalition on Monday called on the U.S. to cancel the licenses that allow Chevron and other energy companies to operate in the South American country to pressure President Nicolás Maduro to negotiate a transition from power.
The appeal came from an adviser to the campaign of Edmundo González Urrutia, who represented the Unitary Platform coalition in the July 28 election, and his main backer, opposition leader María Corina Machado. González and Machado claim their campaign won the vote by a wide margin, contradicting the decision of national electoral authorities to declare Maduro the winner.
“We want them canceled … this is a lifeline to the regime,” adviser Rafael de la Cruz said in reference to the licenses during a panel discussion hosted by the New York-based Council of the Americas business organization. “We want all the oil companies to go to Venezuela. So, it’s not about the companies. It’s about the situation that is impoverishing the country so badly that practically the whole population wants this regime gone.”
California-based Chevron is the largest company to have received an individual permission from the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., better known as PDVSA. The Treasury Department sanctioned PDVSA in 2019 as part of a policy punishing Maduro’s government for corrupt, anti-democratic and criminal activities.
Chevron’s license was issued in 2022 after Maduro and the opposition coalition jumpstarted a negotiation process. In October, the Treasury Department granted Venezuela a broad reprieve from sanctions after Maduro and the opposition agreed to work to improve electoral conditions ahead of the 2024 presidential contest. But as hopes for a democratic opening faded, the Biden administration clawed back the relief.
The White House left open the possibility for companies to apply for licenses exempting them from the restrictions, which could attract additional investment to the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves. European companies have benefited from individual licenses.
De la Cruz said the González-Machado campaign wants “to find common ground” with oil companies. But, he said, their presence in Venezuela at the moment give Maduro the ability to try to “normalize … de facto dictatorship that he is trying to set up in Venezuela.”
“We remain committed to conducting our business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, both in the U.S. and the countries where we operate,” Chevron spokesman Bill Turenne said in a statement.
The White House did not immediately comment on the call by the opposition coalition to cancel the licenses. Chevron’s license renews automatically. It was last renewed Sept. 1 and is valid until March 2025.
Venezuela’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed on July 28 but unlike previous presidential elections they never released detailed vote tallies to back up their claim, arguing that the National Electoral Council’s website was hacked. To the surprise of supporters and opponents, González and Machado shortly afterward announced not only that their campaign had obtained vote tallies from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines used in the election but also that they had published them online to show the world that Maduro had lost.
Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s high court, stacked with ruling party loyalists, to audit the results. The court reaffirmed his victory.
After the disputed election, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress to prohibit American investments in Venezuela’s oil sector and to impose visa restrictions on current and former Maduro government officials. Resolutions recognizing a González victory were also introduced in the House and Senate.
González, a former diplomat, earlier this month departed for exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of the vote tally sheets.
Last week, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 16 allies of Maduro, accusing them of obstructing the vote and carrying out human rights abuses. Those targeted included the head of the country’s high court, leaders of state security forces and prosecutors.
Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.
FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Gas is flared at the Jose Antonio Anzoategui oil complex in Barcelona, Anzoategui State, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
