Boeing Suffers Another Blow As Contract Offer Rejected

The exterior of the Boeing Company headquarters is seen on March 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. Boeing's latest offer to its unionized freighters was rejected.

Boeing suffered yet another blow as firefighters who protect the company's manufacturing plants in the Seattle area rejected the latest contract offer, citing concerns about low pay and safety.

Earlier this month, Boeing locked out about 125 of its firefighters and brought in replacements after negotiations with the firefighters' union failed to deliver an agreement.

Boeing began contact talks with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-66 in February. The union rejected offers in March, April and then again on Wednesday.

Boeing said its offer included increasing firefighters' average take home pay from $91,000 to $112,000 in the first year.

That figure remained unchanged from the offer made in April, the Seattle Times reported, but Boeing withdrew its offer to make that increase retroactive to the beginning of March.

According to the newspaper, the only significant improvement in the new offer was a boost to wage progression, with Boeing offering an increase of 60 cents per hour every six months instead of 50 cents.

The union said I-66 members earn up to 30 percent less than firefighters working for nearby departments, forcing them to leave Boeing for pay "commensurate with their dangerous work" and "the opportunity to earn family-sustaining wages."

The low pay "perpetuate safety issues at Boeing, as firefighters highly trained to respond to industrial accidents continue to leave the company," the union added, according to KOMO News.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Boeing said it was "unfortunate the unions leadership has continued its pattern of bad faith bargaining.

"The union earlier accepted and agreed to endorse our strong offer which provides an average of $21,000 in increased take home pay and additional wage increases. Our contingency plan remains in place and ensures that we can provide the same levels of safety and emergency response with highly qualified firefighters indefinitely."

Newsweek has contacted IAFF Local I-66 for further comment via email.

The dispute comes as Boeing has seen revenue and orders fall as it navigates a major crisis over the safety of its planes.

Boeing is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Justice Department after a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, in January.

In a preliminary report, the NTSB said bolts that help keep the door-plug panel in place were missing after repair work on the aircraft.

That incident has spotlighted a series of safety and manufacturing problems involving Boeing planes and put fresh attention on two deadly crashes of Max jets in 2018 and 2019.

In March, CEO David Calhoun announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the year amid a major shakeup at the company.

Whistleblowers have accused the company of rushing to produce as many planes as possible, and taking shortcuts when it comes to safety.

Update 5/23/24, 8:30 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add a statement from Boeing.

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