Boeing sweetens labor proposal in ‘best and final’ offer as strike enters second week

Boeing on Monday sweetened its contract offer and said it was its “best and final” proposal for its more than 30,000 machinists as their strike, which has halted most of the aerospace giant’s aircraft production, entered its second week.

The new offer raised pay, reinstated annual bonuses and increased a bonus that would be given upon the contract’s ratification, among other changes, Boeing said on its website.

The company’s new offer would boost general wages by 30% over four years, up from a previously proposed 25%. It also doubled the ratification bonus to $6,000, reinstated an annual machinist bonus and raised the company’s 401(k) match.

The labor union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said Monday that it is reviewing the offer.

“Boeing executives have always known they could do better and this proposal shows the company can do better,” Brian Bryant, the union’s international president, said in a written statement.

Boeing said the offer is contingent upon ratification by Friday at 11:59 p.m. PT.

The new offer is Boeing’s latest attempt to end a costly strike, the unionized work group’s first since 2008, as pressure is mounting on new CEO Kelly Ortberg to reach a deal.

Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein estimated the strike is costing Boeing $50 million a day, and ratings agencies have said the company risks a downgrade the longer the strike lasts.

In the first few days of the strike, Boeing said it started temporarily furloughing nonunion workers including managers, and implemented other cut costs such as a hiring freeze, reduced travel, and the elimination of first- and business-class air tickets for employees.

Both Boeing and the union said they were disappointed with negotiations last week.

The strike came as workers voted 94.6% against the previous proposal that the union had endorsed.

Machinists on picket lines in Renton, Washington, told CNBC last week that they rejected the first contract with higher pay because they wanted their wages to keep up with the sharp increase in the cost of living in the Seattle area.

Some workers said in interviews that they have prepared for a long strike and have begun taking side jobs like delivering food or working in warehouses.