Aerospace manufacturer Boeing are currently under fire for a number of quality control issues, particularly over their 737 Max plane series.
Amid these issues, the company has also been facing union action from their machinist union, which represents tens of thousands of workers, and the union have just scored what looks like a major victory.
Previous Crashes
Despite the modern rarity of plane crashes (International Air Transport Association flights had no fatal crashes in 2023), Boeing’s 737 Max 8 suffered 2 fatal crashes within 6 months of each other in 2018/2019.
In October 2018, a 737 Max 8 took off from Jakarta and soon crashed into the ocean, killing 189 people, and, in March 2019, the same model of plane crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing 157.
Sensor Issues
These crashes were caused by an issue with a sensor responsible for keeping the nose of the plane level, which is complex to override manually.
Boeing were alleged to have kept issues with the sensors from their test pilots, but claim it has now been fixed ass they await approval to return the 737 Max to the skies.
Stressful Environment
Whistleblowers had sounded the alarm in 2018 during a congressional hearing, highlighting how some of these mistakes could have been made.
They say that the environment of the production line was “unstable,” and highly stressful and that these conditions are likely to have led to mistakes.
Door Issue
More recently, in January, the door of a 737 Max 9 flew off during an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California.
The plane, which was almost totally new, had to be quickly grounded. Minor injuries but no fatalities were reported.
Union Action
Amid the quality control issues, Boeing have also been facing a relatively more mundane business negotiation as a union representing a large group of their Seattle workers took action.
The more-than-30000 workers made a series of demands via the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the 2 parties have reached a tentative agreement.
Worker Benefits
The deal remains tentative until it is approved by over 2/3s of the union members it affects.
Some of the worker benefits negotiated include improvements to retirement policy, more agency in quality control, a 25% wage increase over 4 years.
Company Care
Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope hailed the agreement in a video message that highlighted the benefits the employees would receive as part of the new package.
She announced that “we have reached a tentative agreement with the union on a historic offer that takes care of you and your family.”
Strike Averted
This means that a strike, which could have been called for as soon as next week, may have been averted.
However, union members still have to make the final decision on the offer, which did not meet their full demand of a 40% increase in wages.
Best Deal in History
That being said, the IAM’s local union representative appeared to be pleased with the outcome, which may indicate a forthcoming approval.
The workers’ representative released a statement saying: “Although there was no way to achieve success on every single item, we can honestly say that this proposal is the best contract we’ve negotiated in our history.”
