![\"\"](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_2964-2-scaled-e1757709073699-1024x614.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Boeing employees hold strike line on Aug. 5 outside of company facility in Berkeley, Mo. (Photo by Rebecca Rivas\/The Missouri Independent)<\/p>\n
Several hundred Boeing workers cheered Friday afternoon at the St. Louis Music Park in Maryland Heights after learning union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a new contract offered by the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was jubilant for a minute,\u201d said Boeing assembly mechanic Christy Williams, \u201cand now we\u2019re heading back to the strike line.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n About 3,200 Boeing workers who assemble <\/span>advanced aircraft and weapons systems at <\/span>the company\u2019s facilities in St. Louis, St. Charles and Mascoutah, Ill. have been on strike since Aug. 4.<\/span><\/p>\n Union members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 voted Friday to reject Boeing\u2019s modified five-year contract offer, choosing to remain on strike.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur members in St. Louis have once again shown that they will not settle for Boeing\u2019s half-measures,\u201d said IAM International President Brian Bryant in a prepared statement issued Friday. \u201cBoeing must start listening to its employees and come back to the table with a meaningful offer that respects the sacrifices and skill of these workers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to the union statement, Boeing\u2019s modified offer didn\u2019t include a sufficient signing bonus relative to what other Boeing workers have received or a raise in 401(k) benefits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Williams said the new offer wasn\u2019t much different than the previous rejected offers and called it \u201cinsulting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be compensated,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThey don\u2019t think we\u2019re intelligent enough to understand contractual agreements, but we\u2019re good enough to build the best fighter jet in the world. It\u2019s crazy to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She said it didn\u2019t address one of the most important issues of compensating longtime workers. It mostly benefits newer workers, she said, like Williams and her son who joined the company a few years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis contract works for me and my son,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t work for the people at the top of the scale. And if the people at top of scale don\u2019t continue to go up a little bit, especially based on economics and economy and cost of living, then it\u2019s eventually going to cut all of us off who are at lower scale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In a statement after the vote, Boeing said it was \u201cdisappointed\u201d employees rejected what its touts as offering 45% average wage growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve made clear the overall economic framework of our offer will not change, but we have consistently adjusted the offer based on employee and union feedback to better address their concerns,\u201d the company said. \u201cIn the meantime, no further talks are scheduled. We will continue to execute our contingency plan, including hiring permanent replacement workers, as we maintain support for our customers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Williams said members aren\u2019t too worried about the company\u2019s threat to hire permanent replacements because there\u2019s no one there to train them.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the union statement, the workers assemble and maintain things like the F-15 fighter jet, F\/A-18, and cutting-edge missile and defense technologies, adding that their work \u201cplays a vital role in safeguarding national security and supporting U.S. and allied defense operations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe message could not be clearer\u2014our members expect Boeing to do better,\u201d said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. \u201cThey will not be brushed aside with small adjustments. Boeing needs to stop dragging its feet and negotiate an agreement that honors the contributions of its workforce.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Boeing employees hold strike line on Aug. 5 outside of company facility in Berkeley, Mo. (Photo by Rebecca Rivas\/The Missouri Independent) Several hundred Boeing workers cheered Friday afternoon at the St. Louis Music Park in Maryland Heights after learning union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a new contract offered by the company.\u00a0 \u201cIt was jubilant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n