Boeing and the union that represents 33,000 striking employees at the company say talks between the two have broken down and no new talks are scheduled.
Two days of federally mediated talks this week concluded with the two sides still far apart, said Stephanie Pope, the CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit, in a statement.
“The union made non-negotiable demands far in excess of what can be accepted if we are to remain competitive as a business,” she said in the statement to Boeing employees. “Given that position, further negotiations do not make sense at this point and our offer has been withdrawn.”
Members of the International Association of Machinists have been on strike since September 13, grinding operations at the troubled manufacturer to a halt. Credit analysts at Standard & Poor’s estimated Tuesday that the strike is costing the company $1 billion a month.
The IAM in a statement said Boeing is at fault for not making an offer that would be acceptable to its rank-and-file members. A previous tentative agreement between the union and Boeing ahead of the strike was rejected nearly unanimously by the members now on strike.
The rejected tentative deal would have given members raises totaling 25% over four years. The IAM’s statement late Tuesday said its surveys of membership made clear that the improved offer the company made to the union and released publicly two weeks ago, an offer that would give IAM members an immediate 12% raise and raises totaling 30% over the four-year life of the contract, was not acceptable to members either.
“The company was hell-bent on standing on the non-negotiated offer that was sent directly to the media on September 23,” said the union’s statement. “Your negotiating committee attempted to address multiple priorities that could have led to an offer we could bring to a vote, but the company wasn’t willing to move in our direction.”
Despite the breakdown in talks, both sides said they are eager and willing to return to the table.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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