Boeing heads into union showdown as activism ripples across aerospace

By Julie Johnsson | Bloomberg

Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer 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, as the US planemaker tries to end a standoff disrupting its fighter-jet assembly lines .

Ortberg has called for a return to civility, respect and openness as Boeing recovers from years of crisis, including whistleblower accounts of vindictive managers. The CEO stresses “working together” at every turn in his internal communiques.

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 planemaker is returning to shorter-term labor agreement