Boeing Girds for Long Strike as Gig Economy Gives Workers Clout

(Bloomberg) -- Around Boeing Co.’s vast aircraft manufacturing hub in Seattle, the great belt tightening has begun as the planemaker and its factory workers settle in for a labor dispute that will test the resolve of both sides.

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Striking employees received their final Boeing paycheck on Thursday, and the company stops paying for their health insurance on Sept. 30. Both measures will pinch household finances, typically ratcheting up the pressure and stakes for union negotiators in contract talks to reach an agreement.

But as workers stare down the embattled manufacturer for better pay and benefits, the 33,000 members of IAM District 751 have the full benefit of a tight labor market and gig economy that provides a quick transition into jobs that require few skills and help make ends meet. That gives the union bargaining leverage, potentially frustrating Boeing’s effort to swiftly end a conflict that’s costing it an estimated $100 million each day.

While the battle between one of the world’s largest exporters and its blue-collar workers may look like an uneven fight on its surface, Boeing finds itself in an increasingly untenable situation with its finances so dire that it can ill afford a drawn-out paralysis.

“I think everybody is ready for the long haul,” said Christopher Dahl, 38, who has worked at Boeing for 10 years, now testing flight-control systems. “I’ve gone through every strike because my parents were Boeing employees, so I know the game. And before, there wasn’t the options like we have to make money on the side.”

Companies like food-delivery provider DoorDash Inc. or Uber Technologies Inc. weren’t around 16 years ago, when Boeing’s largest union last walked off the job, shutting down its commercial airplane manufacturing for two months. Now, such companies, alongside a still-tight labor market, are providing possible options to sustain the strike.

Workers are once again digging in for a holdout after bucking their union leadership by voting overwhelmingly to reject a 25% pay raise. On picket lines outside the Renton factory where Boeing builds 737 Max jets, employees said they’ve been saving for years to strike for as long as it takes — without pay, aside from $250 weekly deposits from the IAM local.