No end to strike at Boeing as workers reject company’ offer

Boeing workers in the Seattle region have decisively rejected the U.S. aerospace giant's latest contract offer, extending their nearly six-week strike.

Almost 64 percent of the members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 rejected the contract, the union said on X.

The latest Boeing offer had included a 35 percent wage hike, but did not reinstate a pension plan sought by many employees.

Some 33,000 hourly workers with the IAM have been on the picket line since Sept. 13, when workers overwhelmingly rejected a Boeing proposal for a new four-year contract to replace the expiring pact.

The strike has halted activity at two Seattle-area factories that assemble the 737 MAX and 777.

Workers had sought a 40 percent wage increase to make up for years of tepid salary growth that have not kept pace with inflation and that employees complain leave them unable to afford living in one of the most costly regions of the United States.

"After 10 years of sacrifices, we still have ground to make up, and we're hopeful to do so by resuming negotiations promptly," Jon Holden, president of the Seattle union, said in a statement.

"Ten years of holding workers back unfortunately cannot be undone quickly or easily, but we will continue to negotiate in good faith until we have made gains that workers feel adequately make up for what the company took from them in the past," he added.

A Boeing spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the vote.

The extension of the strike adds to the troubles facing Boeing and its new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who earlier Wednesday expressed measured optimism the latest contract would be ratified.

"We have been feverishly working to find a...