Members of a union of workers who assemble Boeing fighter jets in Missouri and Illinois will strike today after rejecting the employer’s revised proposal for an operating collective bargaining agreement yesterday Sunday.

“Approximately 3,200 highly skilled workers (…) voted (yesterday) Sunday, August 3, 2025, in favor of rejecting the contract” proposed by Boeing management, the IAM (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers) union said in a statement.

“A strike will begin at midnight on Monday, August 4,” the union added.

“The members of the IAM’s Section 837 have spoken loud and clear: they deserve a contract that reflects their skills, their dedication and the essential role they play in our country’s defense,” Tom Beling, a union representative, said in a statement.

“Our union is based on democracy” and members have every right to demand “a contract commensurate with their contribution,” Brian Bryant, the IAM president, added yesterday.

Boeing’s original proposal, rejected a week earlier, included 20% wage increases over four years and more furloughs. The revised proposal provided for 40% raises, according to management.

The union had warned that if a deal was not reached within seven days, IAM Section 837 would declare a strike.

“We are disappointed that our workers rejected the proposal that provided for 40% midpoint wage increases and resolved their main concern about flexible work schedules,” reacted Dan Gillian, vice president of Boeing Air Dominance and head of the St. Louis plant.

In a statement, he said the group was “prepared to deal” with the strike action, having drawn up a “contingency plan” that it is now putting in place to ensure that “our non-striking staff will continue to serve” customers.

Boeing has been in deep crisis since last year due to quality problems in its production and a strike action of more than fifty days that paralyzed its two largest plants.

The IAM represents some 600,000 active workers and retirees in the aerospace, defense, airline, shipyard, railroad, transportation, health care, automotive and other industries in the U.S. and Canada.