- Boeing is set to resume negotiations with union bosses on Monday.
- Analysts have estimated that the strike is costing Boeing $50 million a day.
- Thousands of members of the IAM union have been on strike since September 13.
Boeing and union bosses are set to return to the negotiating table on Monday, over three weeks after workers took to the picket lines.
A group of Bank of America analysts, led by Ron Epstein, estimated that the strike was costing Boeing $50 million a day.
Some 33,000 Boeing workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have been on strike since September 13.
“A resolution with the IAM stands as a priority for me, and our team is ready to resume mediated talks this Monday,” Boeing’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, told employees on Friday, per Reuters.
When reached by Business Insider, Boeing did not comment beyond confirming that negotiations would resume Monday.
To save money during the strike, the planemaker has furloughed some staffers and barred all workers, including executives, from flying business class.
Nearly 95% of union members voted against Boeing’s initial offer of a 25% pay rise across the four-year contract.
After 10 days of the strike, Boeing increased the offer to a 30% wage hike plus a doubling of the contract-signing bonus, to $6,000, if the workers accepted by the end of that week.
IAM District 751’s negotiating committee slammed Boeing’s “direct dealing tactics” as “a blatant show of disrespect,” saying this offer was sent to the media while union leaders were still reviewing the details.
Committee members added that they wouldn’t be able to set up a vote on the offer before the company’s deadline.
Union members have said one key issue is the desire to win back a defined-benefit pension that was lost in contract negotiations in 2014 and replaced with 401(k) contributions.
The union has said that Boeing “remains adamant that it will not unfreeze the defined-benefit plan.”
Many on the picket line appear willing to continue striking, buoyed by debit cards with a weekly pay of $250 funded by the union.
Boeing is due to report its third-quarter results on October 23. Its stock is down by nearly 8% over the past month and by 38% since the start of the year.
Do you work at Boeing? Reach out to this reporter at psyme@businessinsider.com.
