Washington Boeing workers will not take no for an answer.

As long as I can remember, my dad worked for Boeing. At the time, Boeing was considered one of the preeminent aerospace companies in the world. Dad's engineering career went all the way back to working on the landing gear for the B52, Through and beyond the 747. In all that time, I can remember him having to go on strike twice. Both of those times were tough on the family but, he made it through, and our family was better off for him doing it. 

Over the last few years, the shine has kind of come off of Boeing's reputation and because of that the International Association of Machinists and aerospace workers now has a very strong position during their strike with Boeing. 

According to msn.com,
‘Boeing tried to force a best and final offer last week of a 30 percent raise over four years, a signing bonus and a sweeter match to the employee 401(k) savings plan. It didn’t work. The machinists lost their company-paid health benefits on Oct. 1, but that hasn’t moved the needle, either. This doesn’t come as a surprise given that the first offer of a 25 percent pay raise was rejected by an astounding 96 percent of the employees who belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.’ 

Over the last couple of weeks, it appears that Boeing has tried to do an end run around the union by taking what they called their final offer that included a 30% wage increase and instead of presenting it to the union, they just published it publicly. Needless to say, this did not fly well with the Union who decided not to even vote on the proposal since it was not actually presented to them?  

The Boeing Company finds themselves in a precarious financial position and anything they want to do to solve that issue has to wait until after the strike is resolved. 

I may be wrong, but it looks like the union has the upper hand. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. 

KUOW - Striking Boeing workers in Washington state say they’re in it for the long haul
Boeing machinists on strike miss first paychecks (msn.com)
Comment: Boeing’s frail financial health leverage for machinists (msn.com)