PUBLISHED on August 14, 2025, 12:53 PM EDT – Key Points and Summary – A strike by over 3,200 machinists has halted production at Boeing’s Midwest military aircraft facilities, threatening potential delays for the F-15, F/A-18, and the new F-47 sixth-generation fighter.
-With negotiations stalled, the IAM union is now appealing to U.S. lawmakers to intervene and help broker a deal.
-While Boeing’s CEO has downplayed the strike’s impact, the work stoppage puts President Trump’s high-priority F-47 program at risk.
-The key question remains whether a protracted dispute will force the White House to step in to protect a crucial national security project.
F-47 In Trouble Due to Boeing Strike? The Latest
At the beginning of August, more than 3,200 workers at Boeing’s military aircraft facilities in Missouri and Illinois went on strike, at the facilities where the F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet jets are built.
The strike, which followed Boeing’s awarding of a $20 billion contract to build the F-47s, has raised questions about whether those jets could end up delayed.
It’s the first strike by this particular union since the 1990s, although a strike by a different Boeing union, representing machinists in the Seattle area, lasted for three months in the fall of 2024.
The latest development is that the union has made a push for government intervention in the strike.
Per Bloomberg News, the IAM Union has written letters to lawmakers, asking them to “intervene and nudge the planemaker to reach a deal.”
As of earlier this week, Boeing said that no talks were scheduled and that a $5,000 ratification bonus offered in previous talks is no longer on the table, as reported by KSDK.
According to a separate report from the same outlet, the machinists have demanded new talks, and even “rushed the gates” at Boeing on Monday, although none of them actually got into the building.
From the Picket Line
“We don’t feel very good about the contract that’s been given to us,” union member Keifer Beem told the TV station.
“This is all part of a tactic,” Beem added. “They’re going to want to wait us out, start to get desperate, and grab the next contract they throw out there.”
“Times are definitely tough,” Beem said. “I don’t care who’s in that office the economy is hurting everybody. The least we can try to get is some sort of better offer so that all of us can live not rich lives, but better, happier, surviving lives.”
Will This Delay the F-47?
One question being asked is whether a protracted strike will affect the production of the F-47.
“While this strike involves a far smaller workforce and began before full F‑47 production, it still threatens delays and cost overruns as Boeing ramps up investment in the F‑47 — including a major expansion of its St. Louis production line,” Fox Business wrote when the strike began on August 4. “A delay could force rescheduling of testing, supply chain deliveries, and depot work, even if the strike ends swiftly.”
However, Boeing has downplayed the possibility that such a delay is a concern.
“The order of magnitude of this is much, much less than last year’s Seattle strike of 30,000 workers,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said at the time. “I wouldn’t worry too much about the implications of the strike. We’ll manage our way through that.”
Would Trump Intervene?
The letter from the union appears to be directed at members of Congress, rather than at the president. That raises the question of whether the White House might try to intervene in the strike.
The president has not indicated that such an intervention is being considered. The politics of organized labor have become less entrenched than has traditionally been the case in the second Trump era, with the president, shortly before returning to office, backing dockworkers in a dispute over automation.
However, Trump has often taken actions that have benefited Boeing to the point where the New York Times has called Boeing a “winner” in the early stages of the president’s trade wars.
The F-47, though, is an important project to Trump. He announced it in March, and named it, and a later FOIA dive by Bloomberg News unearthed emails seeming to confirm that the jet was, at least in part, named after Trump, being the 47th president.
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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