Boeing, striking workers to resume negotiations this week

SEATTLE

Talks between Boeing and striking factory workers are due to resume early this week under a federal mediator, the government has said, after workers voted overwhelmingly to reject an earlier proposal from the embattled aviation giant.

Thousands of Boeing factory workers in the United States walked off the job on Sept. 13 over the pay dispute, its first strike in 16 years.

The strike shuttered two major plane assembly plants for the 737 MAX and 777 in the Puget Sound region and sidelines some 33,000 workers, further delaying the financially stressed company's turnaround efforts.

"We sent an overwhelmingly large message to Boeing that they cannot continue to treat us this poorly," Mike Corsetti, who has worked at Boeing for 15 years, told AFP Friday afternoon as he picketed in front of the Everett factory.

The vote was a decisive rejection of a deal line workers said was far less generous than depicted by Boeing executives, marking the latest show of defiance by unions following earlier major strikes in the auto and entertainment industries.

Boeing had hoped a 25 percent wage hike over 4 years and a commitment to invest in the Puget Sound region would be enough.

But rank-and-file workers described it as a slap in the face after more than a decade of nearly stagnant wages. Workers had sought a 40 percent wage hike.

Other points of contention include the deal's failure to restore a pension, as well as Boeing's pledge to build its next plane in the Seattle region, which critics said offers no promises beyond the 4-year contract.