ST. LOUIS – Nearly two months since union workers went on strike, Boeing has intensified its push to hire replacement workers and expand recruitment efforts.
More than 3,200 Boeing defense workers remain on strike across the St. Louis region.
The strike began on Aug. 4 when union members with International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 837 (IAM 837) overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer that initially included a 20% pay increase over four years and a $5,000 bonus for newer hires.
In recent weeks, IAM 837 members have proposed and modified contract offers to Boeing, featuring increased 401k contributions and improved raises for top-of-scale members. As of Friday, no agreement has been reached.
According to FOX 2’s news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Boeing’s top St. Louis executive Dan Gilligan told union workers in a letter that the standoff could continue for weeks or months longer “in light of the union leadership’s actions over the past few weeks.”
He noted, as a result, Boeing would move into the next phase of its contingency plan, which already included hiring replacement workers and holding job fairs.
Union leaders pushed back in a message to members, calling Boeing’s latest move a “terrible idea” that “won’t work,” per the Post-Dispatch.
Dozens of striking workers continued to demonstrate outside Boeing’s St. Louis-area facilities Friday afternoon.
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