IAM members take to the polls in Boeing strike vote
November 4, 2024
As the work stoppage enters its 53rd day, the International Association of Machinists Union District 751 members are to take to the polls in what could symbolise the end of the ongoing Boeing strike.
In-person voting is open between 7am and 7pm at nine locations, after which ballots will be tallied at each Union Hall. Final votes will be tabulated at Seattle Union Hall before a final total is announced, with a majority (50% plus one) required to determine the outcome. If the contract is ratified, workers will be able to return to their positions as early as Wednesday 6 November, with everyone to be back by the start of their shift on Tuesday 12.
Having “continually [evaluated] where [its] leverage stands going forward,” the IAM believes it has now “secured one of the strongest contracts in the aerospace industry;” urging its members to “confidently declare victory, vote yes for this agreement, and build on this for generations to come”. Alongside other benefits (such as an elevated $12,000 ratification bonus), the proposed contract is promising pay rises of 38% over four years; slightly more generous than Boeing’s previous offer.
The vote is the second time IAM members have taken to the ballot box during the course of the strike, with a previous provisional contract (offering a wage increase of 35% over four years) voted down by a majority of 64% against. However, although the previous offer was not formally recommended by the union, the IAM has now decreed: “Allow yourself to capture this win and be proud of your sacrifice”.
