Nearly 95% of Boeing employees vote for strike after rejecting latest ...

EVERETT, Wash. — Over 30,000 Boeing employees voted to reject the company's latest contract offer Thursday evening, which will lead to a strike that will begin at midnight Friday.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said its members rejected a contract that would have raised pay 25% over four years, then voted 94.6% to reject the contract and voted 96% to strike. A two-thirds vote among 33,000 workers was needed to strike.

“This is about respect, this is about the past, and this is about fighting for our future," IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said in announcing the vote.

Very little has gone right for Boeing this year, from a panel blowing out and leaving a gaping hole in one of its passenger jets in January to NASA leaving two astronauts in space rather sending them home on a problem-plagued Boeing spacecraft.

Washington Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash) released the following statement Thursday evening regarding the stalled labor negotiations between Boeing and union workers:

Today, more than 33,000 union workers, mostly in Washington, brought Boeing airplane production to a halt with a strike. I strongly urge the parties to return to the negotiating table and participate in good-faith discussions that result in a strong agreement. Across corporate America, so much of the wealth has wound up in the hands of so few people. Large corporations have increasingly prioritized their own profits and shareholders at the expense of workers. It is crucial that Boeing behaves as a responsible steward for its employees so that every employee at their company is respected with fair wages and working conditions. Unions remain essential for workers and their families, and I will always champion the right to organize and collectively bargain for better working conditions. I sincerely hope that the parties reach an agreement that respects all employees as well as the company as a whole.

The IAM District 751’s 33,000 members simultaneously submitted their votes on whether to accept the contract as well as if they wanted to reaffirm their intention to strike. The contract needed a simple majority to be approved. A strike vote requires the approval of two-thirds of the members.

“The company needs to realize that we're out, and we're going to stay out until we get what we want. We're going to dig our heals in,” said Larry Best, a union member who is set to strike. “If they don't give us what we want the first time around and they force us out, we need to stay out until we get what we deserve."

As long as the strike lasts, it will deprive Boeing of much-needed cash that it gets from delivering new planes to airlines. That will be another challenge for new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who six weeks ago was given the job of turning around a company that has lost more than $25 billion in the last six years and fallen behind European rival Airbus.

Ortberg warned machinists that a strike vote would put Boeing’s recovery in jeopardy and raise more doubt about the company in the eyes of its airline customers.

Workers were in no mood to listen. Ortberg made a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, telling machinists Wednesday that “no one wins” in a walkout.

WATCH |Boeing machinists rally against new contract, threaten strike if terms not met

The terms of the offer were finalized over the weekend. The contract, as presented, gives workers a 25% general wage increase for all employees over four years. That pay bump would translate into 33% over the life of the contract, according to the company.

That would set the average machinist's pay to $75,608 annually, and by the end of the four-year contract, it would be $106,350, according to Boeing. Additionally, workers would see lower health care costs, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and a bigger increase in what Boeing contributes to workers’ retirement plans.

Industry analysts said one of the most significant aspects of the deal would be a commitment by Boeing to build its next new aircraft in Washington state, which adds up to job security for generations to come. However, that commitment only takes effect if the current contract offer is accepted.

“We were hoping that with the new CEO, he would be able to come out and take care of us and kind of go back on some of the policies that led us into this position right now,” George said. “We just haven't seen it. It's unfortunate."

Ortberg released a statement to employees on Wednesday that praised workers for keeping the company strong for more than a century and pointed out the opportunity to build on that legacy.

WATCH |Boeing employees express discontent with new tentative contract, threaten to strike

The statement reads, in part:

“For Boeing, it is no secret that our business is in a difficult period, in part due to our own mistakes in the past. Working together, I know that we can get back on track, but a strike would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers and hurting our ability to determine our future together.”

Boeing is hoping to avoid a costly and damaging strike and is offering a one-time $3,000 bonus if machinists accept the deal by Thursday’s deadline when the current contract is set to expire. The last strike was in 2008 and lasted 57 days.

“They need to go back to the negotiating table and they need to let all 33,000 members know what they did to us to force us in this position, the union I'm talking about,” Best said. “They need to really go back hard and the company needs to understand we're not messing around. We're going to be out for months and they are going to be wasting millions of dollars a day by having us out."

The Associated Press contributed to this report