Boeing workers reject their latest contract offer, extending strike at
three Midwest plants
[September 13, 2025] By
RIO YAMAT and MAE ANDERSON
Another contract proposal has been rejected by Boeing workers who now
have been on strike for nearly six weeks from three Midwest plants where
military aircraft and weapons are developed.
The vote on Friday refusing the latest proposal sends the workers back
to the picket lines, according to the union representing the 3,200
striking workers who build fighter jets, weapons systems and the U.S.
Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Fifty-seven percent of
members voted against the proposal, the union said.
“Boeing’s modified offer did not include a sufficient signing bonus
relative to what other Boeing workers have received, or a raise in
401(k) benefits,” the International Association of Machinists and
Aerospace Workers District 837 said in a statement.
“We’re disappointed our employees have rejected a 5-year offer,
including 45% average wage growth," said Dan Gillian, Boeing Air
Dominance vice president and general manager, in an emailed statement.
“We’ve made clear the overall economic framework of our offer will not
change, but we have consistently adjusted the offer based on employee
and union feedback to better address their concerns.”
Boeing said no further talks are scheduled.
"We will continue to execute our contingency plan, including hiring
permanent replacement workers, as we maintain support for our
customers,” Gillian said.
The strike, which began Aug. 4, is far smaller in scale than a walkout
last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners.
Still, the work stoppage has threatened to complicate the aerospace
company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
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 Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security
business accounts for more than one-third of the company’s revenue.
Negotiations had escalated in the days leading up to last month’s
walkout, with the workers rejecting an earlier proposed agreement
that included a 20% wage hike over the life of the contract and
$5,000 ratification bonuses.
Boeing quickly countered with a modified agreement that didn’t boost
the proposed pay raise but did remove a scheduling provision
affecting the workers’ ability to earn overtime pay. They rejected
that offer, too, and went on strike the next morning.
The 2024 strike shut down Boeing’s factories in Washington state for
more than seven weeks at a bleak time for the company. Boeing was
under several federal investigations last year after a door plug
blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight, an
incident that renewed safety concerns surrounding that particular
plane.
Two 737 Max jetliners crashed off the coast of Indonesia and in
Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346
people.
Boeing Co., based in Arlington, Virginia, employs more than 170,000
workers in the U.S. and more than 65 other countries.
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