The union representing 33,000 striking Boeing workers in Washington, California and Oregon has said executives have “made an error” after the US planemaker cut their health insurance.
According to its official website, Boeing said if workers go back to work during the strike on or after October 1, 2024, active health and insurance coverage will be restored starting from the date of return. However, the planemaker stated that if employees come back to work but decide to strike again on or after October 1, 2024, health and insurance benefits will stop from the day they start striking again.
Prior to the most recent update, Boeing announced that if a new contract is not established by the end of September 2024, health care benefits paid by the company will discontinue for workers and their families starting from September 30, 2024.
On October 1, 2024, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing the striking workers, released a statement criticizing the regulations. The union said: “Boeing executives made an error of unceremoniously axing healthcare coverage for 33,000 families.”
“Boeing executives cannot make up their minds,” said Brian Bryant, International President of the IAM union. “One day they say they want to win back the trust of their workforce. The next moment, on the heels of many recent missteps by their labor relations team, Boeing executives are now tripping over dollars to get pennies by cutting a benefit that is essential to the lives of children and families.”
Bryant added that it is time for the “new CEO to truly engage at the proposal-based level and to take the reins from his subordinates who are fumbling critical decisions like this one”.
“There is no reason the health benefits question could not have been punted on to allow more time for negotiations at the table – it is an unnecessary and cruel decision by Boeing executives that will cost the company much more than it saves them, both short-term and long-term,” he added.
Bryant commented that while in recent emails to company employees, the CEO of Boeing has signed off with the phrase ‘Restoring trust’, “the ripping away of health benefits from workers and their families runs counter to that goal”.
He added that cutting health benefits is putting workers and their families “at risk of catastrophic healthcare costs or denied coverage, in yet another clear misstep as the company claims it is seeking to rebuild trust with its workforce”.
On September 30, 2024, the IAM union stated that talks to end the machinists’ strike ended without a deal after a scheduled mediation meeting. The workers noted that although the discussions were direct, no progress had been made to restore the pension plan that was taken away 10 years ago. Additionally, the union’s conditions for ending the strike include a 40% pay rise.
The union said it will continue to advocate for mediated or direct talks with the planemaker to reach a negotiated settlement that would see the 33,000 Boeing workers end strike action that is about to enter a third week.