Key Points and Summary – The two-month-long strike at Boeing’s St. Louis facility is now officially delaying deliveries of new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets to the Air Force, a top general confirmed in recent Senate testimony.
-Over 3,000 machinists have been on strike since August, and the dispute is at an impasse, with Boeing management stating their contract offer is “firm.”
U.S. Air Force Maj. Michael Tope, right, and Brig. Gen. Michael Rawls, taxis to the runway in a F-15EX Eagle II for a training operation at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, Nov. 15, 2023. The EX is the most advanced variant of the F-15 aircraft family, with the capability to carry a great number of missiles in support of the F-35A Lightning II. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Elizabeth Tan)
-While the new F-47 sixth-generation fighter program is not yet reported to be affected, the public confirmation of the F-15EX delay is a major setback and places significant pressure on the company to resolve the labor dispute.
After Two Months, the Boeing Strike Is Now Hitting the F-15EX Eagle II
When Boeing workers in the St. Louis area went on strike in early August, concerns were raised that a protracted strike could affect the deliverability of fighter jets- possibly even the new F-47, for which Boeing was awarded the contract earlier this year.
Now, a general has testified that there has indeed been a delay, due to the strike, of the F-15EX Eagle II aircraft.
The General Speaks: F-15EX Eagle II Problems
Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach discussed the delay in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, ahead of his confirmation hearing last week. Wilsbach was nominated two weeks ago to serve as the new Air Force chief of staff.
“The F-15EX program is within projected cost, schedule, and performance criteria. Lot 1 aircraft have delivered. Lot 2 aircraft, initially expected to deliver this calendar year, are delayed due to the ongoing Boeing strikes with 6 of 12 F-15EX delivered to date,” Wilsbach said in the written testimony.
In the same testimony, the general vowed that the F-47 “will secure our nation’s air superiority against growing global threats, embodying the best of American innovation and industrial strength.”
There was no hint that the Boeing strike had affected that program, and he stated that in the early going, Boeing “have already begun to manufacture the first article and are executing within cost, schedule, and performance criteria.”
The F-15EX, the Air Force’s newest fighter aircraft, arrives to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida March 11. The aircraft will be the first Air Force aircraft to be tested and fielded from beginning to end through combined developmental and operational tests. The 40th Flight Test Squadron and the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron personnel are responsible for testing the aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)
Wilsbach was nominated to replace Gen. David Allvin, who announced in August that he would step down from his post halfway through his four-year term.
In his oral testimony before Congress, as reported by Stars and Stripes, Wilsbach shared that he had planned to retire to Florida before he was nominated for the new post.
“But then I received a call to continue my service. After much reflection and prayer, I said yes because I love this country, and I love the Air Force,” the general told the Senate committee.
About the Boeing Strike
The strike consists of more than 3,000 machinists, who went out a the start of August, and the labor action has now reached the two-month mark. Picketers have carried signs with the slogan “Next-Gen Jets, Next-Level Skills, Next-Level Contract,” in reference to the giant contract Boeing received to build the next-generation F-47.
As of now, there are no negotiations scheduled. And Boeing’s President and CEO of Defense, Space and Security, Steve Parker, wrote a letter to workers this week, stating that the company’s contract proposal will not change.
Shown is a graphical artist rendering of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) Platform. The rendering highlights the Air Force’s sixth generation fighter, the F-47. The NGAD Platform will bring lethal, next-generation technologies to ensure air superiority for the Joint Force in any conflict. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
“No matter how long the strike lasts, the economics won’t change,” Parker said in the letter, per St. Louis’ NPR station. “The bottom line is firm.”
The strike isn’t as large a labor dispute as the one against Boeing that took place last year, in the Pacific Northwest, which ended with the workers receiving a signing bonus and a better 401(K) plan. But a St. Louis Business Journal story last month pointed out that the disputes are somewhat similar.
Jake Rosenfeld, a professor of sociology at Washington University, told the Business Journal that while the current strike is smaller in scale than the one in 2024, some of the dynamics are similar.
The Labor Analysis
“There certainly is a playbook out of union negotiations past where the union is trying to signal to the company how serious the workers are,” the professor told the Business Journal.
“So they’ll put a contract proposal to a vote, say nice things about it, have it get rejected overwhelmingly so that they can signal to the firm, ‘Hey look, we’re going to have to do better here or otherwise this is going to keep going.’”
On a separate interview with St. Louis’ NPR station this week, Rosenfeld called Boeing’s response “more aggressive” in this year’s strike than in last year’s. He also stated that the general’s testimony could put some pressure on Boeing to end the strike sooner.
“This is another setback that, as it drags on, could continue the narrative that this is a company that cannot get out of its own way,” Rosenfeld told St. Louis NPR.
Politicians as varied as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Missouri’s own Republican senator, Josh Hawley, have tried to push for an end to the strike. But the professor noted that this strike has gotten less attention than the 2024 one did.
“I think the company has benefited from a lack of broader attention to this particular strike,” Rosenfeld said this week on the NPR radio series St. Louis on the Air. “That has helped them kind of really dig in and really hold the line against workers’ requests.”
An F-15EX Eagle II, assigned to the 142nd Wing, taxis on the flightline before take-off during the official Unveiling Ceremony for the new fighter jet at the Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon on July 12, 2024. The 142nd Wing will be replacing the F-15 C/D model Eagles with the new F-15EX Eagle II models. (National Guard photo by John Hughel, Oregon Military Department Public Affairs)
The professor concluded that the strike, if successful, could inspire other workers.
“A successful strike here could embolden other workers whose contracts are coming up,” Rosenfeld told the station.
“One in which the company is able to hold the line and really settle for less than what they settled for out West also would have reverberations across our region and the nation.”
Could Trump Get Involved?
While senators have urged a settlement to the strike, it doesn’t appear that the White House is interested in trying to get involved in the dispute.
Brian Bryant, head of the 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, visited the picket line in late August and pleaded for Trump to get involved, but stated that the White House had declined his request.
“I would request the president of the United States get involved in these negotiations and get this company back to the table since they are the ones who are building the military planes for his military,” Bryant said at the time.
Ironically, Boeing’s chief labor counsel, Scott Mayer, was nominated by the president to a seat on the National Labor Relations Board, although his nomination was tabled after he clashed with Hawley, the Missouri Republican senator, in an early-October confirmation hearing, per Reuters.
“What’s different about these Missouri workers?” Hawley asked Mayer during the hearing, as reported by Politico. “Are we going to get to a fair resolution here where these workers get paid on terms equal with other workers at your company across the country, or are these folks going to be permanently replaced by non-union workers?”
Mayer, per the report, tried to “distance himself” from the dispute.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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