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STORY: :: Date: October 15, 2024:: Location: Seattle, Washington :: Lawmakers join 33,000 striking Boeing workersat a raucous union headquarters rally :: Maria Cantwell/U.S. Senator/(D) Washington"Management should be able to see the faces of the men and women in this room who deliver the production of those planes and deliver a fair wage."::Pramila Jayapal/U.S. Representative/(D) Washington"I am proud of the 33,000 machinists who are on strike right now, because you deserve respect. You deserve dignity. You deserve a fair contract, fair wages, health care, benefits, and pensions. ":: Ruben Zurita/Striking Boeing forklift driver "I'm here for decent pay , you know, for all of us, not just, you know, for new and upcoming. I'm a new generation. So I want what the older people want and just decent pay. Everything's going up in the world, and Seattle is one of the most expensive states to live in. But just a good living pay raise. Not too much, but just a decent pay."Hundreds of striking workers packed the main hall at union headquarters chanting ‘Pension! Pension! Pension!’ and ‘One day longer, one day stronger!’Outside, factory workers told Reuters that the recent 17,000 job cuts announced by the company wouldn’t deter them from continuing to fight for higher wages and an improved pension.Politicians U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal both addressed the crowd during the lively rally.Around 33,000 unionized West Coast workers, most in Washington state, have been on strike since Sept. 13, demanding a 40% wage increase spread over four years and halting production of Boeing's best-selling 737 MAX and its 767 and 777 widebodies.The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Boeing leadership are locked in a paralyzing blame game over the strike, with both sides filing charges accusing the other of unfair labor practices during negotiations.Boeing last week withdrew its latest offer, which included a 30% wage increase over four years, after talks also attended by federal mediators broke down.Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su met with Boeing and the IAM in Seattle on Monday in a bid to break the deadlock, in her first in-person intervention.
