Several thousand Boeing workers at three Midwest manufacturing plants that develop military aircraft and weapons went on strike Monday, the Associated Press reports. The move could potentially hinder the aerospace company’s progress toward regaining its financial footing.
Originating at Boeing facilities in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, and Mascoutah, Illinois, the strike reportedly followed the votes of roughly 3,200 local members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Sunday to reject a modified four-year labor agreement.
That was after a weeklong cooling-off period succeeding the machinists’ rejection of an earlier proposed contract, which contained a 20% wage raise over four years and $5,000 ratification bonuses.
While Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security business makes up over one-third of the company’s revenue, CEO Kelly Ortberg said that the strike’s impact would be much less than that of a walkout last year by 33,000 workers who assemble Boeing’s commercial jetliners.
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