Davon Smith says his pay does not compensate him for the danger of the job
More than 30,000 Boeing workers are on strike after their union rejected a deal that would have raised pay in exchange for the loss of bonuses and pensions.
The employees are now in their second week of striking with no sign of any deal with Boeing management on the horizon.
We asked workers on the picket line outside a Boeing factory in Auburn, Washington, why they feel they have no choice but to strike.
Many of the strikers the BBC spoke to cited the loss of their bonuses and pensions, as well as inflation and the cost of living, as their reasons for walking out.
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Davon Smith, 37, earns under $28 (£21) an hour attaching the wings to Boeing 777X planes, which sell for over $400m (£300m) each. He also works as a security guard at a bar to make ends meet.
“That kind of keeps me afloat, a little bit,” he says about the part-time security job.
His fiancée, who works as a secretary for Seattle schools, earns more than him.
Smith, who has worked at Boeing for only a year, says his pay rate doesn’t compensate him for the level of safety that goes into ensuring that the planes don’t fail.
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He says he’s concerned he could be held criminally liable if his work isn’t done correctly.
“Every time we make a plane to their spec, we pretty much put our life on the line. Because if anything goes wrong – like if it’s a torque’s out of spec or something like that – and potentially the plane goes down, we obviously get [jail] time for that,” he says.
The deal that union representatives and Boeing had tentatively agreed would have seen workers get a 25% pay rise over four years.
It also offered improved healthcare and retirement benefits, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and would have given union members more say on safety and quality issues.
Many remain angry about benefits lost during contract negotiations years ago – especially the pension, which guaranteed certain payouts in retirement.
Now, the firm contributes to worker investment accounts known as 401(k)s, making their values subject to the strength of the stock market.
“They just took everything away. They took away our pensions, they took away our bonuses that people rely on,” says Mari Baker, 61, who started at Boeing in 1996 and currently works as a kitter, overseeing the tools used at factories.
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She calls the rejected deal “a slap in the face”, but says she is worried about losing her health insurance at the end of the month, if the strike continues and whether she’ll be able to afford her prescription medication.
Boeing declined to comment for this story, pointing to earlier comments by executives pledging to reset the relationship with workers and work towards a deal as soon as possible.
Before the stoppage, the company was already facing deepening financial losses and struggling to repair its reputation after a series of safety issues.
New chief executive Kelly Ortberg, who was appointed to turn the business around, had urged workers not to strike as it would put the company’s “recovery in jeopardy”.
Patrick Anderson, chief executive of the Anderson Economic Group, a research and consulting firm, says Boeing is a company “on the precipice”.
His firm estimates that the strike, just in its first week, has already cost workers at the firm and its suppliers more than $100m in lost wages and shareholders more than $440m, among other economic losses.
“This strike doesn’t just threaten earnings, it threatens the reputation of the company at a time when that reputation has suffered hugely,” he says.
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Workers on the picket line dismiss the threat to the firm, saying they have little to lose.
“This past year working here I couldn’t afford to pay my mortgage,” says Kerri Foster, 47, who joined Boeing last year after leaving her previous career as a nurse and now works as an aerospace mechanic.
Kerri Foster says she can’t pay “basic bills” including her home mortgage
Foster says that she has not been “making enough to pay basic bills”. Meanwhile, the cost of living is increasing, along with her mortgage payments and property taxes.
She’s willing to keep striking until her pay is increased and pension restored, despite the loss of income while the strike continues.
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“I’m hungry already. I mean, if you can’t pay your bills when you’re going to work, what’s the difference?” she says.
Ryan Roberson, 38, works in the final assembly division at Boeing. He brought two of his six children to the picket line with him on Wednesday.
As an employee at Boeing for less than a year, the plan that the union rejected would not have had any impact on his wages. Increases would have only gone to those working for more than a year.
He says he plans to keep striking until workers at “that entry level can have a liveable wage”.
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Ryan Roberson says his family’s food budget will go down during the strike
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, which represents the strikers, has issued debit cards to members.
After the strike goes into its third week, workers will receive $250 each week, which will be deposited on to the card.
That $250 “will buy a lot of Top Ramen”, says Roberson, referring to the ultra-cheap instant noodles.
Marc Cisneros, 29, says he is striking “because for the amount of work I do and the quality that I produce, it seems unfair that I’m unable to afford my rent”.
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Marc Cisneros says he struggles to pay rent with his current pay rate
He says Boeing is “putting me in essential poverty even though I’m working 40, 50, 60 hours per week”.
Cisneros has worked at Boeing for four years. His girlfriend works there as well. His mother also worked there, “making a decent amount of money” which supported him and his sibling.
He says he’s proud to work at Boeing and is disappointed by his lack of compensation from a company he hopes to work for until he retires.
“I mean this is dangerous. It’s big hunks of metal flying through the sky,” he says.
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“You gotta take pride in the quality [and] in everything that you do here. Our names are on every single thing that we produce.”
I FEEL about six years old, hands and knees covered in thick mud, as I emerge from a tunnel only big enough to crawl through, first used by Christian settlers more than 1,200 years ago to escape Viking raids.
I’m at Knowth, the world’s largest passage tomb, just 20 minutes north of Dublin in Ireland’s Boyne Valley.
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At Trim Castle a guided tour starts at just £2.50 and it is free to explore the groundsCredit: Alamy
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The ancient sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Howth were built 5,000 years ago for the burial of around half a dozen ‘god-like’ peopleCredit: Supplied
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Plenty to sea at Annagassan HarbourCredit: Meath County Council
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Mel Gibson in BraveheartCredit: Alamy
The ancient sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Howth were built 5,000 years ago for the burial of around half a dozen “god-like” people.
Our tour guide explains that the monuments, older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, were built like giant lasagnes, with huge stones piled one on top of the other.
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Known as the birthplace of Ireland’s ancient east, the Boyne Valley is ideal for exploring Ireland’s history and tradition — without travelling too far from Dublin Airport.
After my ancient sites tour, I headed to Causey Farm in Fordstown, which offers groups of tourists the chance to “be Irish for the day” for as little as £12pp.
Arriving to the homely smell of a wood-burning stove, I’m shown how to make Irish soda bread, before moving on to a lesson on the traditional Irish drum, known as a bodhrán (pronounced bow-ran).
Next comes a tour of the animals — I get to meet a fluffy, ten-week-old border collie that melts my heart, as well as a slightly less charming (actually terrifying) pig, some alpacas and rabbits.
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The visit finishes with farmer Matt Murtagh demonstrating how his sheepdog Crick effortlessly corrals a herd of sheep wherever he demands, at one point playfully running the herd inches from me.
The Boyne Valley is also ripe with history — it’s the setting for the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart and where the Battle of the Boyne was fought between deposed King James II and the newly crowned King William III in 1690.
At Trim Castle, a guided tour starts at just £2.50 and it is free to explore the grounds.
We get to climb right to the roof, stopping to see key rooms along the way, with walls covered in 18th century graffiti — a John Gibney marked his name in 1760.
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Aer Lingus launch new direct flight to popular stateside destination from Dublin Airport
We’re then shown the chapel where the priests’ ornate wash basin can still be seen, and there’s even a medieval toilet (read hole in the floor) — lucky us!
If history isn’t your thing, Park Beo, an adventure base in Wilkinstown, offers a “gateway” to the Lakelands Greenway — a cycle path stretching 18 miles along an old railway line from Navan to Kingscourt — as well as shops selling everything from cheese toasties to cherry bakewells produced by a local.
With a huge car park, it acts as space to service visitors who want to head out for a walk with a fresh takeaway coffee.
There’s also a bi- cycle hire office with bikes and e-bikes to rent from £8.30 an hour.
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If you prefer a seafront amble, this region boasts miles of impressive coastline.
The village of Annagassan, a former Viking settlement, has breathtaking coastal views, with a dramatic tide perfect for razor clams.
Seafood banquet
You can sample them fresh at local joint, The Glyde Inn, a charming 18th-century pub with roaring fires and an award-winning restaurant with panoramic sea views.
For something extra special, the family-run Irish National Pub of the Year award winner offers a dinner-and-show style “Viking VR Experience” for £50pp.
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Each ticket gets you a pint of Irish Pale Ale, brewed down the road, as well as a ten-minute VR show of what the area would have looked like at the time of the Vikings in 841 AD, when Bjorn the Great was in charge of the settlement there.
Then comes the main event, a seafood banquet of whatever has been caught that day.
I was served Carlingford oysters and crab and butter-coated razor clams to start, followed by a main course of black sole with wilted sea beech foraged just outside the restaurant’s patio doors, served alongside a creamy sea radish mash.
Try to book for late afternoon, as from 5.30pm to 6.30pm each day a live band plays traditional music.
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It’s the perfect ending to any Irish adventure.
GO: BOYNE VALLEY
GETTING THERE: Aer Lingus offers nine daily flights from Heathrow to Dublin at £59.99 each way.
WHEN I think of family holidays as a child, my mind instantly wanders to Potters Resorts in Hopton-on-Sea.
The happy memories include sports games on the green fields and my best X Factor-style audition in the children’s talent competition.
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Give rowing on the boating lake a tryCredit: supplied
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Or unleash your inner child at rally kartingCredit: supplied
So, when I heard about Potters recently-opened Five Lakes, at Maldon, Essex, which is exclusively for adults, I couldn’t wait to book in.
How would the “all grown-ups” version compare to my cheery childhood holidays?
The 320-acre resort is home to five lakes and an 18-hole golf course – and it offers just as much entertainment for the adults.
I was always too busy having fun to pay much attention to the bedrooms as a kid.
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But my premier plus room at Five Lakes, which included two very comfortable single beds with plenty of pillows, did not disappoint.
‘Blissful serenity’
Despite having opened more than two years ago, everything felt exceptionally clean, with ample space for mum and me on our girly weekend away.
After dumping our bags, our first port of call was the bar, to plot an itinerary from the never-ending list of on-site activities (and to sample the cocktails).
What do you need to do to ensure your passport is OK for travel?
Over the next few days, we’d be practising our aim in archery lessons, unleashing our inner child at rally karting and even having a go at indoor shooting (I won myself a medal!).
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Each activity is around a 10-15 minute walk from the main resort, but there are golf buggy “taxis” at reception if you don’t fancy the stroll.
There are more zen-like activities, too, for the less adventurous, such as yoga, pottery painting and bracelet making, all run by patient, professional and fun instructors.
The only downside is that there is no online booking system so be prepared to queue sometimes.
Generous buffets where you can help yourself are laid out for each meal, including, pastries, cereal and a fry up in the morning; sandwiches and salads plus buffet-style hot food for lunch; and everything from curry to roast dinners in the evening.
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The special thing about Potters is that you’re served by the same waitress or waiter throughout your long weekend, so if you flag any special requirements, they will be remembered for each meal.
After dinner every night, crowds spill into the Glade Theatre for interactive games and West End-quality performances with dancers from all over the world.
The level of talent in that room was not something you’d expect to see in a resort in the middle of Essex.
The fun did not stop there, either. After each show, the resort puts on a silent disco, blasting everything from today’s top hits to old school classics through headphones.
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Luckily, the bar stays open until late, so the drinks can keep on flowing – and the best part is the midnight buffet, providing late-night snacks for the hardcore dancers.
With a slightly sore head the following morning, I decided to treat myself to a back and scalp massage – one of the best I have ever had and worth every penny (£53 for 40 minutes).
The gentle pummelling seemed to ease all the tension in my entire body, so by the time I rejoined my mum in the main spa (she was taking advantage of the sauna, steam room and hot tub), I was in a state of blissful serenity.
Is it possible that a Potters Resorts getaway is even better as an adult? It might just be.
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GO: POTTERS ‘FIVE LAKES’ RESORT, ESSEX
STAYING THERE: A four-night midweek break at Potters Resorts Five Lakes costs from £579pp, based on two people sharing, and including full-board dining, activities and entertainment.
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
Donald Trump has ruled out naming Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, to his second administration, as he moves to build out his cabinet after winning the US presidential election against Kamala Harris this week.
Trump announced that he would not be including Pompeo in the government in a post on Truth Social on Saturday. He also said that Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the UN who challenged him for the White House, would not be joining.
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Both Pompeo and Haley have been critical of Trump before backing him for president in the general election, and his announcement highlights how he is planning to staff his administration with loyalists who have not crossed him recently.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump said in the post.
“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country.”
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Pompeo was seen as a top contender for defence secretary in Trump’s second administration, having already served as CIA director as well as secretary of state in his first.
Trump’s statement striking him from contention means Mike Waltz, the Florida congressman, is the most likely candidate to run the Pentagon. Tom Cotton, the Arkansas senator and another top contender for defence secretary, has already ruled himself out.
Pompeo has been a staunch advocate for US aid to Ukraine as it battles the Russian invasion, putting him at odds with Trump and his allies who have been sceptical of helping Kyiv.
He has criticised Trump in the past for his profligate spending policies and his mishandling of classified documents. Pompeo warned that Republicans needed to be beware of “those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality” — which was widely viewed as a swipe at Trump.
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But this year Pompeo said he would be open to serving in the administration if asked.
Haley was much less likely to join Trump for his second term after heavily attacking in during the Republican primary, and criticising his campaign in the final weeks of the race.
Trump’s post about Haley and Pompeo comes after he made his first big appointment on Friday, choosing Susie Wiles, his top political adviser and strategist, to be White House chief of staff.
THE German discounter is opening 11 new stores as part of a £800 million expansion investment.
Now even more communities can enjoy the “unbeatable prices” Aldi has to offer, all in time for the festive season.
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The retailer is committed to expanding its UK outletsCredit: Getty
Starting this week, stores in Sedgley in the West Midlands and Castle Douglas in Scotland are set to open.
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While Horsham in West Sussex and Muswell Hill in London are preparing to welcome new Aldi stores later in the month.
And the expansions don’t stop there.
In December, stores in Totton in Hampshire, Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and Pwllheli in Gwynedd are scheduled to open.
Not only will 11 Aldi stores open before Christmas, 15 stores will undergo refurbishments before the big day too.
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This is all part of Aldi’s long term plan to increase its UK footprint.
The supermarket is set to invest £800 million into expansions and open 1,500 stores across the UK.
Jonathan Neale, Real Estate Managing Director at Aldi UK, said: “At Aldi, we’re committed to making high-quality, affordable food accessible to everyone.
“Our new store openings are a testament to our ongoing investment in the UK, and we’re thrilled to bring Aldi’s unbeatable prices to even more communities ahead of the festive season.”
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Aldi also revealed that its Store Assistants receive a starting pay of £12.40 per hour.
Aldi teases ‘super cute’ Christmas ad – but shoppers have been left asking ‘where’s Kevin the Carrot-’
With those based in London earning £13.65 per hour.
Plus, Aldi remains the only supermarket to offer paid breaks, that’s worth over £900 for the average store worker.
Full list of Aldi stores opening before Christmas 2024
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Bilston Street, Sedgley, West Midlands – November 2024
Oakwell Road, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway – November 2024
Tanbridge Retail Park, Horsham, West Sussex – November 2024
Straiton Road, Loanhead, Midlothian – November 2024
Muswell Hill, Haringey, Greater London – November 2024
Caernavon Road, Pwllheli, Gwynedd – November 2024
Salisbury Road, Totton, Hampshire – December 2024
Cribbs Causeway, Bristol – December 2024
Colliery Lane, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear – December 2024
Princess Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester – December 2024
Not only do they look fabulous, but they’re super affordable too.
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At just £6.99, these lanterns are incredibly gorgeous and great value for money.
One savvy shopper was left overjoyed when she spotted the festive find in her local Aldi.
Thrilled with her purchase, which she has been trying to nab for almost three years, Helen Perry took to social media to share it with others, leaving many open-mouthed.
Posting on Aldi UK Shoppers, a private Facebook group with 312,500 members, Helen shared snaps of her new green lantern and beamed: “After almost three years, I have finally got the green one.
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