Julie Johnsson at Bloomberg reports as Boeing works to end a Strike by its Workers in St. Louis, CEO Kelly Ortberg’s campaign to rebuild the company culture from the factory floor on up is being put to the test by a rise in Labor Activism not seen in decades. Ortberg has called for a return to civility, respect and openness as Boeing recovers from years of crisis, including whistleblower accounts of vindictive managers. He stresses “working together” at every turn in his internal communiques, but those ideals are running headlong into Worker grievances over pay and pensions that were sacrificed last decade in long-term contracts that brought years of labor peace. Now that the Plane-maker is returning to shorter-term Labor Agreements and a near-continuous cycle of negotiations, it faces lingering ill will from its long-ago tactics. Meanwhile, GE Aerospace has successfully negotiated new contracts with two of its Unions this Summer. Workers at a third voted last week to authorize a Strike at two facilities. The company is still negotiating with the United Auto Workers Local 647, which represents about 640 Employees. “Labor is having a moment all over,” said Ron Epstein, an Analyst with Bank of America Securities Incorporated. Unions have gained leverage since the Covid-19 Pandemic because there simply aren’t enough highly skilled Mechanics to replace the Baby Boomers who are exiting the workforce. “It’s not like you can hire a bunch of people to go do this,” he said.

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