https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13/business/video/boeing-strike-union-contract-cnc-digvid

Discussion Questions

1. As the video indicates, the strike at Boeing will likely shut down the company’s airplane construction for the duration of the strike. Boeing is the largest commercial aircraft manufacturer in the United States, and the second largest in the world (behind only Airbus, a French company). Given Boeing’s prominence in the airline industry, should the U.S. government get involved to bring the strike at Boeing to an end? Does the federal government even have the authority to get involved? Explain your response.

Pursuant to the National Emergencies Act of 1976, the U.S. president has the power to intervene in a national emergency. A national emergency is generally defined as a national crisis or a situation where circumstances threaten the country and call for an immediate response. Whether a specific situation constitutes a national emergency is debatable, and the U.S. Congress can overrule the president’s use of the act by the House of Representatives and Senate passing a joint resolution.

Obviously, the longer the Boeing strike endures, the stronger the case that the airline production shutdown constitutes a national emergency. Boeing is the nation’s largest and the world’s second-largest airline manufacturer, and it is the biggest single exporting manufacturer in the United States. It has over 170,000 employees, and more than 20,000 suppliers and partners. On its own, Boeing accounts for one percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). GDP measures all economic activity occurring within a nation’s borders during a particular period. Without question, Boeing is an integral component of the U.S. economy.

For more information regarding presidential powers in a national emergency, please see the following publication, “A Guide to Emergency Powers and Their Use,” from the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute:

https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/2019_10_15_EmergencyPowersFULL.pdf

2. As the video indicates, the union rejected a deal from management that would have given workers 25 percent pay raises over a four-year contract; increased job security; reduced mandatory overtime; and lowered health care costs. Does it surprise you that 95 percent of union workers voted to reject this deal? Why or why not.

This is an opinion question, so student responses may vary. Your author is very surprised that such an overwhelming majority of union workers voted to reject what might be viewed by others as a “sweetheart” deal, particularly given Boeing’s ongoing troubles. Over the last several years, Boeing has been plagued with high profile, quality control-related scandals including its troubled Starliner spacecraft’s return to Earth without its crew (stranding them for the time being at the International Space Station) due to mechanical issues, an incident where a door plug blew out of the company’s aircraft mid-flight, and the grounding of its 737 Max aircraft following a pair of tragic crashes. All of this has contributed to the fact that Boeing is no longer the largest commercial airline manufacturer in the world, taking a “back seat” to France-based Airbus.

3. As the video indicates, 96 percent of union workers voted to go on strike. Does it surprise you that such a high percentage of Boeing workers elected to go on strike? Why or why not?

This is an opinion question, so student responses may vary. Please refer to the response to Video 1, Discussion Question 2 regarding the scandals plaguing Boeing in recent years. Given those scandals and their financial implications, your author believes that workers are figuratively “rolling the dice” in terms of the ultimate outcome of the strike.