Negotiators from Boeing and the unions will return to the negotiating table early next week, U.S. federal mediators said Friday, as both sides try to end a strike that is threatening the planemaker’s turnaround.
The U.S. Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service said Friday night that it would bring the parties together with a federal mediator after speaking with both sides. The move came less than a day after union members voted overwhelmingly to reject Boeing’s contract offer and went on strike.
“The parties will resume meetings early next week,” a statement said. More than 30,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which produces Boeing’s top-selling 737 MAX and other jets in the Seattle and Portland areas, voted on their first full contract in 16 years, with 94.6 percent rejecting Boeing’s offer and 96 percent supporting a strike. Workers vowed to fight for a better wage offer than the company had made.
