Boeing factory workers to rally in Seattle as strike enters second month

Seattle: Boeing factory workers will hold a large rally in Seattle on Tuesday to demand a better wage deal, mounting pressure on new CEO Kelly Ortberg to end a bitter strike that has plunged the planemaker further into financial crisis. Around 33,000 unionized West Coast workers, most in Washington state, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase spread over four years and halting production of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 widebodies. The show of force comes as Boeing moves to give itself financial breathing space on Wall Street. It announced a window for up to $25 billion in stock and debt offerings over the next three years on Tuesday, as well as a $10 billion credit agreement. Boeing shares were up 2.5 per cent at $152.82 in early afternoon. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and Boeing leadership are locked in a paralyzing blame game over the strike, with both sides filing charges accusing the other of unfair labor practices during negotiations.

Boeing last week withdrew its latest offer, which included a 30 per cent wage increase over four years, after talks also attended by federal mediators broke down. US Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su met with Boeing and the IAM in Seattle on Monday in a bid to break the deadlock, in her first in-person intervention.

US Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Pramila Jayapal, both Democrats from Washington state, were due to speak at the rally at 12 pm PDT (1900 GMT), the IAM said.

"This rally is more than just a gathering - it's our battle cry to the company that we are standing strong," the IAM said in a statement.

Its members have been holding smaller picket lines in front of Boeing sites throughout the strike. Boeing announced last week that it would cut 17,000 jobs or 10 per cent of its workforce in a bid to shore up finances and help to avoid its credit rating being downgraded to "junk" status. In mid-November, Boeing will send out 60-day notices to employees being laid off. A second phase is planned in December if needed, with all affected workers leaving the payroll by late February, industry sources said.

Boeing will refrain from asking for voluntary departures to limit severance cash and avoid an exodus of skills, sources said.

Non-management staff will be offered one week's worth of severance pay for every year worked in the company, up to a maximum of six months' salary, the sources said. Managers will spend coming weeks deciding who will be laid off in an internal ranking process dubbed "rack and stack." A Boeing spokesperson said on Monday plans include both union and non-union workers and that striking IAM employees were not currently affected. Staff in the loss-making defense unit are also expected to be affected. Investors and regulators have had Boeing under the microscope since a door panel flew off a near-new 737 MAX jet in midair in January.

Since then, the planemaker's shares have dropped 40 per cent, the Federal Aviation Administration limited its 737 MAX production levels which hampered output even before the strike, and its CEO was replaced.