Boeing faces threat of a massive strike as union members vote on a contract today kraken onion

Little has gone right for Boeing over the last five years. By this time tomorrow, the troubled company could add another mess to its growing list of problems: A massive strike by 33,000 of its workers that could stop airplane production at America’s largest exporter and deal a blow to the US economy.

Boeing faces a crucial union vote tonight that could send workers walking off the job at a parts center in Oregon and two airplane factories and a fabricating plant in the Seattle area. The strike may take place even though the workers’ union and the company have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract to avoid a walk-out.

Among other benefits increases, the contract would increase union members’ pay by last least 25% over four years. Union leadership, in announcing the tentative agreement Sunday, called it “the best contract we’ve negotiated in our history.” But workers are angry: They feel they were pressured to agree to two deals years ago that stripped them of their traditional pension plans and made them pay more for health insurance.

The union agreed to those unpopular deals in past years, when Boeing was reporting strong profits. The union agreed to concessions at the time because it was concerned Boeing would shift union jobs to nonunion plants that the company was threatening to build.