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By Scott Hamilton

March 10, 2025, © Leeham News: Boeing endured a costly 53-day strike last fall by its largest and most powerful union, the IAM 751. The November settlement provided a 43% wage hike, added benefits to its 401(k) retirement program for employees, cash bonuses, and a commitment to assemble the next new airplane in the greater Seattle area.

The strike cost Boeing around $10bn in lost revenue and other costs. Boeing nearly exhausted its entire cash reserve, which had been depleted after years of crises. Only by raising $25bn in the equity and debt markets did Boeing avoid draining its bank accounts.

However, settling the strike doesn’t mean its labor issues are over. Three more contracts expire this year, including one with a different IAM district.

The next contract expiring this year is with a Teamsters local in Puget Sound (Seattle). It expires next month.

Here is the lineup of expiring contracts:

• April 2025: Boeing drivers (Teamsters Local 174) in Puget Sound. They haul wing components from Auburn and Frederickson north to Renton and Everett. A strike there would seriously impact Boeing production.
• July 2025: IAM 837 assembly workers in St. Louis. (Building T-7s, F-15s and F-18s.)
• October 2025: Boeing welders in Puget Sound. Small group -- a few hundred -- represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302. There's a pretty serious shortage of welders both nationwide and regionally, so they have more leverage than their numbers would indicate. Needed more for plant operations than for production.
• January 2026: SPEEA Wichita Technical and Professional Unit. About 1,600 people are now working for Spirit.
• October 2026: SPEEA Northwest Professional Unit and Technical Unit. Two separate but connected bargaining agreements currently cover slightly more than 17,000 workers in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah.