In today’s news and commentary, workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; and Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.

Workers at Boeing manufacturing facilities in Illinois and Missouri rejected the company’s third contract proposal on Friday. The workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, went on strike after rejecting the company’s second contract proposal on August 4th. As Ajayan covered earlier this week, the new deal included a signing bonus and a 45% average wage increase. However, 57% of workers rejected the contract in part due to the company’s “slow” progressive pay scale and an inadequate pension plan. Following the rejection, Boeing St. Louis Vice President of Air Dominance Dan Gillian remarked that the company would continue to hire permanent replacement workers. The facilities in question manufacture the F-15 and F/A-18 fighter jets in fulfillment of Boeing’s contracts with the US Air Force and Navy. 

NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen announced on Thursday that the agency is preparing to file a lawsuit challenging New York’s “NLRB trigger bill.” Cohen indicated that his office will likely file suit next week as it seeks to prevent a “direct attack on the ‘core jurisdiction’ of the NLRB.” The bill, signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on September 5th, allows the New York Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to take jurisdiction over the labor relations of private employees and employers if the NLRB is unable to “successfully assert jurisdiction.” After President Trump’s firing of Chair Gwynne Wilcox left the NLRB without a quorum, the Board has been unable to issue decisions in ULP and representation cases. Lawmakers in New York (as well as California and Massachusetts) argue that this undermines the rationale for the federal preemption of labor law, and are seeking to assert jurisdiction over private labor relations in their states. 

Flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) overwhelmingly rejected Air Canada’s contract proposal earlier this week, with 99.1% of membership voting against the deal. While attendants are not resuming last month’s strike, the rejection demonstrates the ongoing contention between CUPE workers and the airline. In particular, the issue of unpaid ground labor has stalled negotiations, as flight attendants are not paid for labor that takes place before and after take-off. The proposed contract recognized ground labor but only guaranteed 70% of the regular wage rate for 45 to 60 minutes of ground work; as CUPE Local 4092 argued in a press release, flight attendants would still effectively receive less than the Canadian federal minimum wage. The contract additionally provided that attendants who went on strike would not face disciplinary action. Talks between the airline and union are ongoing.