EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing factory workers were voting Wednesday whether to accept a contract offer that includes big pay raises but lacks a traditional pension plan, or to continue a strike that has crippled the company's airplane production for nearly six weeks. Voting began just hours after Boeing reported losing $6.
2 billion in the third quarter, largely because of huge write-downs in both its aircraft and defense businesses. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted at union halls in Washington state, Oregon and California on a Boeing offer that would raise wages by 35% over four years, pay a one-time ratification bonus of $7,000 per worker, and restore annual productivity bonuses worth several thousand dollars apiece. Before the doors opened at a hall near Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington, workers joined a snaking line outside, where there were scattered calls to keep the strike going .
“It’s going to be a split vote,” predicted Brian Hatcher, who has worked at Boeing for 15 years and said he voted to reject the offer mostly because it would not bring back pensions that were frozen a decade ago. Theresa Pound, a 16-year Boeing veteran, also voted against the deal. She said the health plan has gotten worse, with higher premiums and more out-of-pocket expenses, and her expected pension benefits would not be enough, even when combined with a 401(k) retirement account.
“I have put more time in this place than I was .
