Boeing machinists’ bumper pay packet is just the latest win for unionized workers

Boeing machinists won a 38% pay rise after seven weeks on strike.

Striking Boeing machinists’ victory in securing a major pay increase is the latest to highlight the power of labor unions in the US.

After seven weeks and billions of dollars in expected losses for the company, Boeing workers accepted a 38% general wage increase over four years and a $12,000 ratification bonus on Monday.

“Collective bargaining works,” President Joe Biden concluded after members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to approve the offer.

The machinists’ victory is just one of many in recent years that have shown labor unions can effectively wield their power and secure better pay and conditions for the workers they represent.

Last year, the Teamsters secured a deal that would see the average UPS driver make about $170,000 in annual pay and benefits. Then, the United Auto Workers union took on all the US’ big three automakers simultaneously for the first time, securing a 25% pay rise.

It has been a tense road for the roughly 33,000 unionized Boeing workers who began their strike on September 13. The strike started after the union’s members overwhelmingly voted down Boeing’s first offer of a 25% pay increase.

Negotiations later fell apart before each side lodged complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the other of bargaining in bad faith.

Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle to help mediate discussions, leading to the accepted offer.

The union didn’t win a return to the traditional pension plan lost in 2014 negotiations — a key point for many on the picket lines — but did secure numerous improvements to the 401(k) plan.

Boeing said the average pay for machinists, currently $75,608, would rise to $119,309 by the end of the contract. The 38% wage increase compounds to around 43% over the term of the deal.

“For many frontline Boeing workers in the IAM Union, the terms of this contract will be life-changing,” said Gary R. Allen, general vice president of IAM Western Territory.

Despite the arduous process and heated negotiations, it resulted in another strong pay rise for union members.

That may only grow more common as workers find inspiration from others’ victories, as the president of the Boeing union noted.

“A contract like this sends an inspiring message to all workers in the United States who are seeking to join unions or who have been shortchanged by their employer,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant.