Boeing Talks Will Test Unions’ Sway as Labor Market Softens

Boeing Co. is set to begin contract talks Friday with the International Association of Machinists, offering a test of organized labor’s continued clout as the US labor market falls to Earth from its post-pandemic heights.

The negotiations will show whether US unions can keep delivering the eye-popping gains of 2022 and 2023, when a shortage of workers gave them historic leverage at the bargaining table. IAM—representing more than 32,000 mechanics in Washington and Oregon—believes it can, demanding a 40% wage increase over three to four years at the center of a bold proposal to reverse painful concessions on wages and ...