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Strike is in 11th week as Boeing’s refusal to negotiate delays key U.S. Air Force deliveries
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 16, 2025 — The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against The Boeing Company for refusing to bargain in good faith with more than 3,200 IAM District 837 members who have been on strike since Aug. 4 at Boeing facilities across the St. Louis area.
Since mid-September, Boeing has summarily rejected multiple union proposals without making any counter offers addressing member concerns, in clear violation of its legal duty to negotiate in good faith under the National Labor Relations Act. The company’s stonewalling comes despite the IAM membership’s passage of a sensible, pre-ratified offer on Sept. 19 — a proposal designed to end the strike and return members to work.
Instead, Boeing has said that “there is no more coming” and that “no matter how long the strike lasts, the economics won’t change” — statements that make clear the company’s refusal to bargain in good faith. Boeing’s actions are delaying critical aircraft deliveries to the U.S. Air Force while the company fails in its attempt to hire replacement workers who lack the qualifications to build the world’s most advanced military jets and weapons systems.
The strike comes just months after Boeing secured the F-47 contract, a major U.S. defense program made possible by the ingenuity and skill of IAM Union members who have dedicated their careers to building America’s fighter aircraft. Despite these taxpayer-funded successes, Boeing refuses to invest a fraction of those resources into the workers who make its defense programs possible.
For comparison, one F-15 fighter jet costs approximately $100 million. The additional cost of the IAM Union’s pre-ratified offer would cost Boeing about $50 million over four years — a modest investment that could end the strike and get these vital programs back on schedule.
“These men and women have decades of skill, experience, and dedication,” said IAM Union Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “Boeing’s CEO is paid tens of millions of dollars, while the workers who build our military jets are being told to settle for less than they deserve. That’s unacceptable — and people on both sides of the aisle in Congress are taking notice. Lawmakers from both parties have called on Boeing to negotiate in good faith, because this strike and the company’s refusal to bargain are hurting our national defense.”
“IAM Union members put forward a fair, responsible proposal that would have ended this strike,” said IAM Union Resident General Vice President Jody Bennett. “Boeing’s refusal to even respond with an improved offer is an insult to every worker who builds this nation’s defense aircraft — and to the taxpayers footing the bill for the company’s delays. And let’s be clear: it’s our IAM Union members, not corporate executives or union officials, who will ultimately decide their future. That’s what democracy in our union looks like.”
“This strike is about respect and fairness,” said IAM District 837 Directing Business Representative Tom Boelling. “Our members are standing up for their families, their future, and for fair treatment at the bargaining table. Boeing’s delays are hurting its own production, putting critical defense contracts at risk, and showing that you can’t replace skilled union labor with untrained temps. The company needs to come back to the table now.”
The IAM Union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, shipbuilding, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries across the United States and Canada.
