Boeing machinists hold contract vote that could end their 7-week strike

SEATTLE (AP) — Unionized factory workers at Boeing were voting Monday whether to accept a contract offer or to extend their strike, which has lasted more than seven weeks and shut down production of most Boeing passenger planes.

A vote to ratify the contract on the eve of Election Day would clear the way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to resume airplane production. If members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers vote for a third time to reject Boeing's offer, it would plunge the aerospace giant into further financial peril and uncertainty.

In its latest proposed contract, Boeing is offering pay raises of 38% over four years plus ratification and productivity bonuses. IAM District 751, which represents Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed the proposal, which is slightly more generous than one the machinists voted down nearly two weeks ago.

Union officials said they achieved all they could though bargaining and the strike, and that if the current proposal is rejected, future offers from Boeing might be worse. They expect to announce the result of the vote late Monday.

Boeing says average annual pay for machinists is $75,608 and would rise to $119,309 in four years under the current offer.

Pensions were a key issue for workers who rejected the company's previous offers in September and October. In its new offer, Boeing did not meet their demand to restore a pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.

If machinists ratify the contract now on the table, they would return to work by Nov. 12, according to the union.

The workers got their last paychecks in mid-September, a few days after the strike started, and are likely facing more pressure on their personal financial well-being.

Bernadeth Jimenez, who has worked in quality assurance at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, since 2022, said she voted “yes” on Monday after voting against previous company offers. She was satisfied with the proposed wage increases, and said she never expected a pension anyway — she's putting money in a 401(k) plan.

“This (offer) is good, and I really want to go back to work,” she said. “This time we're ready.”

Theresa Pound isn't ready. The 16-year company veteran said she voted “no” just as she did on the two earlier offers that went to a vote.

“Adding 3% (to the previous offer) doesn’t change anything for my future. It still doesn’t solidify that when I retire I’m going to have a comfortable living, and that’s the bottom line," she said. “Instant gratification is not going to save me.”

Both Jimenez and Pound have husbands who also work at Boeing, and both couples anticipated the strike and worked overtime before it started. Still, money is getting tight.

“We're making it by the best we can," Pound said. "We're going to run out soon, but it’s not going to be a stopping point for me to say, ‘Well, I’m out of money. I need to go back.’ I’m going to find other ways to make it work.”

There were fewer pro-strike protesters in Everett than during the Oct. 23 vote.

At a union hall in Renton, also near Seattle, signs warning against campaigning had been moved from inside to outside, and there was no table with workers handing out “Vote No” material, like the last time. A small knot of workers gathered around a burn barrel to talk and keep warm. The mood was subdued.

The strike began Sept. 13 with an overwhelming 94.6% rejection of Boeing's offer to raise pay by 25% over four years — far less than the union’s original demand for 40% wage increases over three years.

Machinists voted down another offer — 35% raises over four years, and still no revival of pensions — on Oct. 23, the same day that Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion. However, the offer received 36% support, up from 5% for the mid-September proposal, making Boeing leaders believe they were close to a deal.

The contract rejections reflected bitterness that built up after union concessions and small pay increases over the past decade.

The new proposal that Boeing made last week offered slightly larger pay increases plus a $12,000 contract-ratification bonus, up from $7,000 in the previous offer, and larger company contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts.

Boeing also promises to build its next airline plane in the Seattle area. Union officials fear the company might withdraw the pledge if workers reject the new offer.

The strike drew the attention of the Biden administration. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su intervened in the talks several times, including last week.

The labor standoff — the first strike by Boeing machinists since an eight-week walkout in 2008 — is the latest setback in a volatile year for the company.

Boeing came under several federal investigations after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Federal regulators put limits on Boeing airplane production that they said would last until they felt confident about manufacturing safety at the company.

The door-plug incident renewed concerns about the safety of the 737 Max. Two of the plane's crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. The CEO whose effort to fix the company failed announced in March that he would step down. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max.

As the strike dragged on, new CEO Kelly Ortberg announced about 17,000 layoffs and a stock sale to prevent the company’s credit rating from being cut to junk status. S&P and Fitch Ratings said last week that the $24.3 billion in stock and other securities will cover upcoming debt payments and reduce the risk of a credit downgrade.

The strike has created a cash crunch by depriving Boeing of money it gets when delivering new planes to airlines. The walkout at Seattle-area factories stopped production of the 737 Max, Boeing’s best-selling plane, and the 777, or “triple-seven,” jet and the cargo-carrying version of its 767 plane.

Ortberg has conceded that trust in Boeing has declined, the company has too much debt, and “serious lapses in our performance” have disappointed many airline customers. But, he says, the company’s strengths include a backlog of airplane orders valued at a half-trillion dollars.

Koenig reported from Dallas.

Boeing employees arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A Boeing employee walks by a picket sign urging people to vote no on a new contract offer from the company, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

An Everett police officer stands inside the Angel of the Winds Arena as Boeing employees arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing employees leave after voting on a new contract offer from the company, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, outside the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - A Boeing employee holds up flyers encouraging others to vote no on a new contract offer from the company, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

From left, Boeing employees Vance Meyring, Josue Ramirez and Joseph Mellon work the picket line after union members voted to reject a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, outside Boeing facilities in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A picket sign sits outside the Angel of the Winds Arena as striking Boeing employees gather to cast their votes, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A worker holds a sign as Boeing employees vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at a voting location in the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing employees on strike arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A Boeing employee walks by a sign carved out of wood while arriving to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at Seattle Union Hall in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing employees on strike arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A volunteer holds a vote to accept a new contract offer from Boeing, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at Seattle Union Hall in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A Boeing employee looks at informational pamphlets before heading in to vote on a new contract offer from the company, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, at the Aerospace Machinists Union hall in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, the South Korean military said, as the country continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S. presidential election.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew about 400 kilometers (250 miles) but didn’t specify how many were fired. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said they landed in waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone and there were no immediate reports of damage.

The launches came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force. That drew condemnation from Kim’s powerful sister, who on Tuesday accused North Korea’s rivals of raising tensions with “aggressive and adventuristic military threats.”

South Korean officials have said that North Korea was likely to dial up its military displays around the U.S. presidential election to command the attention of Washington. South Korea’s military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

Outside officials and analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as leverage to win concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president is elected.

There are widespread views that Kim Jong Un would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump, with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. During campaigning, Harris said she won’t “cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump.”

North Korea claimed last week that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was “the world’s strongest” ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile was too big to be useful in war. Experts say North Korea has yet to acquire some critical technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.

Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his expanding nuclear weapon and missile programs, while reportedly providing Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and were preparing to join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine in the coming days. If they engage in combat, it would be North Korea’s first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

After a meeting in Seoul on Monday, senior South Korean and European Union officials expressed concerns about Russia’s possible transfer of technology to North Korea to enhance its nuclear program in exchange for its troops. Such transfers would “jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe,” they said.

In response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threat, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and updating their nuclear deterrence plans built around U.S. strategic assets.

North Korea has portrayed the joint military drills by its rivals as rehearsals for an invasion and used them to justify its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, North Korea’s ambassador, Kim Song, defended the North's nuclear and ICBM programs as essential for the country’s self-defense and a necessary response to what it perceives as nuclear threats from the United States. He stressed that North Korea would accelerate the build-up of “our nuclear force that can counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapon states.”

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood warned that the U.S. cannot stand back from North Korea’s expanding nuclear program and the growing threat to U.S. security “without a response.”

Wood also repeated last week’s call for Russia to say whether there are North Korean troops on the ground in Russia. “We’re not in a court here,” Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva replied, “and the questions of the United States, in the spirit of an interrogation, is not something I intend to answer.”

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to journalists following North Korea's latest missile launches, at his office in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed stie in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea, on March 7, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post flying a national flag, seen from Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)