New York: Almost 27,000 machinists at the Boeing staged a walkout after talks to improve contracts of workers with the company broke down.
The talks had continued for two days. The walkout means there will be no further production of Boeing's 737, 747, 767 and the 777 series of planes.
The already delayed 787 Dreamliner will also fall behind schedule.
The company estimates this will amount to a loss of 100 million dollars a day in revenue and another 7 million dollars in net income.
The company had offered union members raises over the next three years totaling 11 per cent of current pay. Boeing also offered bonuses and pension improvements it said would give the typical worker about $34,000 in additional pay and benefits during that time.
"We are certainly disappointed," said Boeing spokesman Tim Healy. "We were certainly hopeful that members would look at that offer and the amount of money they would have in their pocket over the next three years, and that they would vote in their best interests."
But the union argues that contract changes demanded by the company would weaken job security and cause more work to be outsourced to contractors and suppliers.
The machinists also fear that it may drive up members' out-of-pocket health care costs.
The workers had conducted a consensus on whether to call a strike or not. An overwhelming 80 per cent had voted against the company's final offer on Wednesday and as high as 87 per cent in favour of a strike.
Boeing has a history of rocky labour relations with its workers. The strong union had struck three years ago for 28 days and the company had lost huge amounts of money.
The current strike could well be dubbed the nation's most disruptive strikes in more than a decade.
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