By Allison Lampert
(Reuters) - Boeing (NYSE:BA) said on Tuesday it has offered to extend the timeline for a vote on a new contract by the union representing thousands of its striking U.S. West Coast workers, after they rejected the company's initial Friday deadline.
"We’ve reached out to the union to give them more time and offer logistical support once they decide to vote,” the planemaker said in a statement. “This strike is affecting our team and our communities, and we believe our employees should have the opportunity to vote on our offer that makes significant improvements in wages and benefits."
More than 32,000 Boeing workers in Portland, Oregon and the Seattle, Washington, area walked off the job on Sept. 13, the union's first strike since 2008. The workers, who have sought 40% higher pay and restoration of a performance bonus, rejected an offer by the company that would have raised pay by 25% but eliminated the bonus.
On Monday, Boeing said it made a "best and final" pay offer, but its largest union declined to put it to an immediate vote, saying the proposal was still below member demands and the planemaker had refused to bargain. The union also said it could not organize a vote by Friday.
Labor experts said Boeing's moving the deadline for a vote was the latest case of backtracking, which could undermine the planemaker's credibility.
Before the strike, Boeing's commercial planes chief Stephanie Pope told workers that its offer at that time was the best deal they would get. On Monday, Boeing sweetened the deal by offering a 30% wage hike, reinstating a performance bonus, improving retirement benefits and doubling a ratification bonus to $6,000.
"It's not a great thing for Boeing to say this is our final offer and then fairly quickly reverse," said Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"Really good bargainers don't use that language," Katz said, adding that while the quick turnaround was "sloppy," it was not a fatal mistake.
A spokesperson for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) declined comment on Tuesday. Jon Holden on Monday night told Reuters the union was focused on obtaining results from a survey underway of its members about the new offer.
Cornell's Katz said workers feeling the pinch of missing wages should be considering Boeing's latest offer, which he called solid.
"At the same time, fundamentally the dynamics of the strike are workers are losing income and they are worried about the longer term consequences of the company losing income as well."
The strike is the latest event in a tumultuous year for Boeing that began with a January incident in which a door panel detached from a new 737 MAX jet mid-air.
During the strike, Boeing has frozen hiring and started furloughs for thousands of U.S. employees to reduce costs. Boeing has planned for nonunion workers to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike.
According to economic data analytics firm IMPLAN, if Boeing's strike continues through Sept. 27, it would reduce U.S. GDP by $1.0 billion dollars, and lead to $500 million in lost labor income.