Boeing Workers Accept Deal And End Strike

Striking workers at embattled plane maker Boeing voted on Monday to finally accept the company’s most recent offer, ending the costliest strike in the United States in more than 25 years. 

 

The International Association of Machinists (IAM) said rank-and-file members voted by 59% to approve the deal. IAM members had voted almost unanimously against Boeing’s first offer on the eve of the start of the strike, and then 64% voted against the second offer less than two weeks ago, extending the strike. 

 

The 33,000 union members, who have been on strike since September 13, will start returning to work Wednesday. 

 

The deal calls for an immediate raise of 13% and raises of 9% for each of the next two years, and then another 7% in the fourth and final year of the contract. Taken together, members will receive a pay raise that exceeds 43%. 

 

Workers also get a ratification bonus of $12,000, part of which they can contribute to 401(k)* retirement accounts. But the deal did not restore the traditional pension plan they lost in 2014 from their previous labor deal.

 

[*A 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement plan that comes with tax benefits. Basically, you put money into the 401(k) where it can be invested and potentially grow tax free over time. In most cases, you choose how much money you want to contribute to your 401(k) based on a percentage of your income]. 

 

Workers’ continued anger at the loss of that pension plan was seen as a major factor in the rejection of Boeing’s previous two offers and had raised uncertainty about the outcome of Monday’s vote. Jon Holden, president of the largest IAM local at Boeing and the union’s chief negotiator acknowledged the pension was likely a major issue for many of the 41% who voted against the deal. 

 

The strikers have lost more than $600 million in combined wages but the cost to Boeing has been significantly greater, according to estimates from Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan, US-based research firm, which put Boeing’s losses through the end of last week at $6.5 billion. Overall, the cost to the US economy has topped $11.5 billion. 

 

When Kim Pan Gon was Malaysia's national football coach, he was highly regarded before he suddenly quit his job and went back to South Korea. 

 

His stock must have fallen on Tuesday after his team, Ulsan HD, were outplayed 3-0 by Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) in an Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) Group A match at Iskandar Puteri's Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor, Malaysia. 

 

He's bound to be disappointed because his team, though winning the K-League title, faltered in the ACLE. Ulsan have gone winless and goalless in four matches!