Aircraft fuselages heading to the Boeing 737 Max production facility wait for shipment at the railroad sidings at their essential supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, in Wichita, Kansas, U.S., December 17, 2019.
Nick Oxford | Reuters
Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems stopped work at its Wichita, Kansas, plant on Thursday after staff voted against a latest labor contract and in favor of a strike. Spirit manufactures Boeing 737 Max fuselages and pylons Airbus A220 at the plant.
“In light of today’s decision to strike staff at Spirit AeroSystems, represented by the International Association of Aerospace Mechanics and Employees, Spirit will suspend factory production before the contract expires,” Spirit said.
The issue arises as Boeing tries to ramp up production of the 737 Max. Boeing has several Spirit-made fuselages in stock, but declined to say a number or the impact of the production stoppage on Boeing 737 production.
“I need to encourage all of us to deal with our mission to proceed constructing and delivering the very best aircraft on this planet,” said Stan Deal, general manager of Boeing’s business aircraft division, in a memo to employees. Thursday. “We’ll be updating you all as we get further information from our partners at Spirit.”
Spirit shares fell about 9% in afternoon trading, while Boeing shares fell greater than 2%.
The production shutdown began with the primary shift on Thursday, two days before the contract for about 6,000 staff expired. In accordance with the union, the strike is scheduled to begin on Saturday after midnight.
“IAM’s dedicated and hard-working Spirit AeroSystems membership has worked flawlessly through turbulent times, including a pandemic where every thing got here to a standstill,” the statement said. “Most of our members found the corporate’s offer unacceptable.”
The union said 79% of staff voted against the deal and 85% voted to go on strike.
Rickey Wallace, vice general of IAM’s 14-state southern territory, said the union desired to get back to the negotiating table as soon as possible.
“Our goal is to achieve an agreement,” he said.