Culture Change will take a long time at Boeing

Boeing is a company in need of cultural change.  Labor relations, which have been strained for decades at the company, is an area that new CEO

Kelly Ortberg cited shortly after his hiring as a target for restoring trust.  Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened and Boeing’s actions so far during the strike aren’t creating trust with the union.  Today it looks like the same-old-Boeing and a long strike.

A Missed Opportunity

Kelly Ortberg was likely taken by surprise after the union and company reached a tentative agreement, but the rank and file voted it down with a 96% vote.  That vote indicated that both the company and union leadership mis-read the mood of the union members.  Boeing could legitimately state that the union leadership didn’t follow-through in convincing its members to accept the tentative contract.  Clearly, the rank and file disagreed with union leadership on the adequacy of the deal.

Boeing was likely thinking that it should go directly to the membership with a new offer, since the union leadership couldn’t convince the rank and file that their first deal was adequate.  But going public to the membership with a “best and final” offer reflected the existing Boeing culture of arrogance and a history of hardball and difficult labor negotiations.  So Boeing bypassed union leadership, inflaming an already difficult relationship.  That offer was also quickly rejected without a vote, leaving Boeing the option of improving the offer or seeing its employees remain on strike.  Their “best and final” will clearly not be good enough, and improving that offer will damage their credibility, since it will be neither “best” or “final” if a deal is to get done.