11th Hour Deal Averts Labor Strike at Boeing … Maybe

There was a time when Boeing aircraft had the reputation as the safest vehicles in the sky.  In recent years, though, the aerospace company has seen a series of fiascos and disasters.  In 2018 and 2019, Boeing’s Max engine failures caused the crashes of an Indonesian Lion Air and Ethiopian Air 737s, killing 346 people.

After a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into those crashes, Boeing pled guilty to charges of defrauding the government and paid a 2.5 billion dollar settlement.  Maintenance issues continued to plague Boeing aircraft, including faulty nose wheels and missing panels.

Then in June, U.S. astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore boarded a Boeing Starliner rocket for what they thought was a 10-day stay on the International Space Station.  Multiple malfunctions in the Starliner spacecraft forced NASA to scrub the return flight, stranding the astronauts at the space station for the better part of a year.

Boeing’s workers think they know the cause of this mess: chronic mismanagement, poor working conditions and low pay.  Last July, Boeing workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike – but it seems just that threat was enough.  On September 9, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced they had reached a tentative deal with Boeing.

Journalist Jenny Brown of Labor Notes spoke with Buzz host Brian Standing to present her latest reporting on the events at Boeing.

Photo of International Association of Machinists worker during vote to sanction the strike courtesy of Jenny Brown.

Web posting by WORT producer Nicholas Wootton

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