Boeing Needs to Take Cue From UPS and Pay Strikers: Thomas Black

Boeing Co.’s labor negotiators should have paid more attention to how Carol Tomé, the chief executive officer of United Parcel Service Inc., handled talks with its union last year. UPS workers were itching to strike, and the company was inevitably going to have to give hefty raises.

Instead of digging in over a couple of percentage points on the salary increases, risking a strike and creating more animosity with its workforce, Tomé relented to the union’s demands. The higher labor costs have squeezed margins, and investors registered their dismay with a 27% drop in the share price since ...