Last week, an overwhelming majority of Boeing's some 33,000 members of the machinist union — 94.6% to be exact — rejected theThe stunning tally came even after it was called"the best contract we've negotiated" by Jon Holden, the president of the machinist union, IAM District 751.On the surface, the strike is about negotiating a better deal.
Amid ongoing scrutiny over Boeing mismanagement, it was revealed this year that former Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun received $32.8 million in total compensation in 2023 — a 45% increase from the previous year."The frustration from the rank and file's part has only grown as they've seen and read about rising CEO pay and top level executive pay, all the while they've been sitting on pretty stagnant wages," Rosenfeld said.
Machinists union members and supporters cheer at a rally asking members to vote against a proposed contract on Jan. 2, 2014, in Seattle.voted yes to a contract that transitioned toward 401s. It followed suit with what most companies have done, which is move away from providing guaranteed income after retirement via traditional pensions to placing the responsibility for funding retirement more on the employee through 401s.