Hawley and Sanders question Boeing’s labor attorney about St. Louis strike

Missouri Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley questions Boeing attorney Scott Mayer in a confirmation hearing for his nomination to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.)

The nine-week strike at Boeing’s St. Louis-area defense plants is not settled because the company isn’t dealing fairly with the workers, Missouri Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley and Vermont Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday.

Hawley and Sanders grilled Boeing’s labor attorney, Scott Mayer, about the strike during a confirmation hearing on Wednesday.  

Mayer, Boeing’s chief labor counsel Scott Mayer, was nominated by President Donald Trump to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board, which investigates and resolves labor disputes.

“We’ve got 3,000-plus Missourians who are currently, effectively out of a job,” Hawley said to Mayer during the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing. “They haven’t had a significant wage increase in years. They need to be able to afford to pay rent, to put food on the table for their families, and to get their health care. I mean, is your company going to do right by these workers?”

Sanders said the 3,200 striking machinists with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 manufacture state-of-the-art fighter planes. But in some cases, he said, they make as little as $18 an hour. 

Both Hawley and Sanders pointed to the exit payouts for the company’s former chief executives Dave Calhoun and Dennis Muilenberg as excessive. If it can afford those payments, they said, Boeing can afford to meet worker demands.

“It is a company which had enough money to provide a $45-million golden parachute to its former CEO Dennis Calhoun, who did not do a particularly good job,” Sanders said. “Five years ago, Boeing had enough money to provide the CEO before that, Mr. Muilenberg, with a $62-million golden parachute.”

Earlier this week, Sanders spoke with the workers on a Zoom call and sent a letter to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, saying he believes an offer union members brought to the company last month is “very reasonable.” 

“It includes a fair wage increase, a $10,000 ratification bonus, and a modest increase in contributions to Boeing’s 401(k) plan,” Sanders stated in the letter to Ortberg. “Let’s be clear. What the Machinists in St. Louis are proposing is not radical. It is not, as you called it ‘a publicity stunt.’”

Sanders said it is a “less generous” contract than the one the company ratified last year with 32,000 Machinists in Washington state that included a 38% pay raise and a $12,000 ratification bonus. 

The day before the hearing, Boeing issued a statement regarding a failed attempt to negotiate with union leaders with the help of a federal mediator on Monday. 

“The union continues to set false expectations with its members,” Boeing said. “We’ve made it clear we’re ready and willing to discuss proposals within the parameters of our market-leading offer that union leadership has twice endorsed, not modifications to their self-drafted proposal. We’ll stay focused on executing our contingency plan, hiring permanent replacements and supporting our customers.”

During the hearing, Hawley asked Mayer what he sees as a fair resolution to the dispute. Mayer said he wasn’t serving as a representative to the company at the hearing, nor was he part of the settlement negotiations.  

“I know the concept of fairness is an elusive one,” Mayer said. “What I will tell you is that the union and the company reached an agreement at the end of July.”

Union members voted down that contract and went on strike on Aug. 4.

“With 3,000-plus members of residents in my state on strike, unable to work, unable to get health care, while your CEO is getting paid $30-some million,” Hawley said. “Fairness may be elusive, but that doesn’t look like fairness to me.”