BOEING’S largest union said talks with the planemaker have broken off as the two sides failed to reach a deal to potentially resolve a debilitating strike.
There was no progress made on pensions, and the company “would not engage substantively” on issues such as higher pay and quicker wage progression, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a statement on Friday (Sep 27) night. No further talks are scheduled for now, it said.
The two sides have been at odds over wages and other demands of roughly 33,000 members of the union. The workers have been on strike since Sep 13, idling Boeing factories near Seattle where its jetliners, including the cash-cow 737 Max are built.
Boeing and the union began the second round of talks overseen by a federal mediator earlier on Friday in a sign of progress after IAM district 751 negotiators dismissed a 30 per cent wage increase offered directly to workers. The manoeuvre injected additional tension into the contentious talks because it bypassed traditional negotiating sessions, enraging union leaders who refused to bring the proposal for a vote.
Each day of strike has cost Boeing about US$100 million by some estimates, forcing the company to embark on a broad savings push that includes worker furloughs, a hiring freeze and cutting back on corporate travel. BLOOMBERG
