Explainer-Union rules set high bar to Boeing U.S. worker strike

By Allison Lampert

(Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE:BA) faces a likely strike on Friday by more than 30,000 workers that could shutter its Seattle-area plane factories over demands for a bigger pay increase than the 25% over four years that union leaders agreed to.

If there is no strike, the unionized workers could have to swallow a contract that most of them have said they oppose. That is because they need a supermajority to strike under rules from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the largest aerospace union in North America which represents Boeing’s U.S. West coast workers.

Here’s how the voting works:

Q. What’s on the ballot?

A. Boeing workers have a two-part ballot. They are first asked to accept or reject the contract offer. The second question is whether they want to support a strike.

If a majority of workers vote to accept the proposed contract, the agreement goes into effect.

Q. What needs to happen for the workers to go on strike?

A. A majority of Boeing workers must reject the proposed contract and two-thirds of those voting must support a strike.

Q. What happens if a majority of workers reject the tentative agreement but less than two-thirds of those voting support a strike?

A. The contract offer is accepted by default.

Q. In general, how often are contracts ratified despite support from just a minority of workers?

A. Harry Katz, a professor of collective bargaining at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said such a scenario is uncommon. In one rare case from 2002, IAM workers at a Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas were forced to accept a contract with less than 40% support. That’s because only 61% voted to authorize a strike, falling short of the two-thirds majority required under the IAM’s constitution.

Q: Why does the IAM have such a high bar to call a strike?

A: The IAM says that if a simple majority was enough to call a strike, the chances of winning a good contract through a strike “decreases dramatically.”

“Anytime you go into a possible strike situation, you want to be sure that a 2/3 majority of your membership support calling a strike. Going on strike with less than 2/3 results in a possible weak picket line,” according to an IAM information package for workers about the Boeing talks.

“Calling a strike is serious business. The leadership needs to be sure that 2/3 of the membership support withholding their labor to walk the line.”

Q. Do workers get strike pay?

A. Members will be paid $250 a week from the strike fund starting in the third week, a union spokesperson said.

Q. When does the voting start and end, and when will we know the result?

A. Polling started on Thursday at 5 a.m. PT and will close at 6 p.m. PT. The result will be announced on Thursday evening, the IAM said. If a strike is sanctioned, it could start early Friday.