The Boeing strike has intensified, and thus, U.S. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has entered the ongoing affair between Boeing and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to a conciliatory end. Su visited Seattle, the first in-person intervention, as the strike, now reaching five weeks, has frozen Boeing’s activities, with 33,000 workers joining the fray.
The workers are demanding wage increased by 40% and the retention of the pension rights that were stripped in 2014. Meanwhile, Boeing is dealing with a financial pinch as it recently unveiled plans to cut its workforce by 17,000 employees while it’s facing billions of dollars in charges along with further setbacks in its production schedule for the 777X jet.
Negotiations proved to be tricky as Boeing’s management would like to find the middle ground between the claims of its workers and the company’s financial needs. Su’s participation in the talks speaks for itself, as Boeing has already been at risk under previous scandals on matters of safety as well as bad practice of management. The labor unrest unfolding might have further destabilized production and undercut all efforts meant to restore trust in the business and production standards pursued by the company.
The outcome will have sterner consequences for Boeing’s workforce as well as its recovery curve. Analysts are more concerned with what this might foretell in terms of the larger implications on Boeing’s financial health and production schedules.
