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Boeing ( BA ) union workers rejected labor deal last week

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Negotiations due to restart Tuesday, union says

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Union members angry about decade of wage stagnation

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Boeing ( BA ) battling jet production, debt crises

(Adds lines from Boeing CFO letter)

By Joe Brock

SEATTLE, Sept 16 (Reuters) -

Boeing ( BA ) said it is freezing hiring and weighing temporary

furloughs in the coming weeks to manage costs as

a strike

by more than 30,000 Boeing ( BA ) workers who build planes

in factories on the U.S. west coast stretched into its fourth

day on Monday.

"I know that these actions will create some uncertainty

and concern," Boeing CFO Brian West wrote in a letter to

employees shared on Monday. "This strike jeopardizes our

recovery in a significant way and we must take necessary actions

to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future."

Company and union negotiators are due to resume talks over a

labor contract on Tuesday.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace

Workers (IAM), Boeing's ( BA ) largest union, last week overwhelmingly

voted down a contract which included a 25% pay increase spread

over four years, but removed an annual performance bonus.

Union leaders will meet with federal mediators and Boeing ( BA ) to

restart labor negotiations on Tuesday, the IAM said in a post on

its X social media feed on Saturday.

Jon Holden, the lead union negotiator, said on Saturday that

workers wanted Boeing ( BA ) to increase its wage offer and reinstate a

defined-benefit pension that was taken away a decade ago in

return for keeping plane production in Washington State.

Two union sources told Reuters they didn't expect Boeing ( BA ) to

restore the old pension, but that demand could be used to

negotiate bigger company pension contributions and higher pay.

Union members on the picket lines outside Boeing ( BA ) factories

around Seattle were bullish about their chances of getting a

better deal out of Boeing ( BA ), but few expect it to happen quickly.

"Not with the history of the way Boeing ( BA ) and the union have

negotiated in the past," said Chris Ginn, a 37-year-old who

works in a factory north of Seattle building 777 jets.

EIGHTH STRIKE

This is the eighth strike since the IAM's Boeing ( BA ) arm was

established in the 1930s. The last two, in 2008 and 2005, lasted

57 days and 28 days, respectively.

Reuters spoke to five workers who were using these previous

stoppages as a benchmark for their financial planning since they

won't receive their salaries during the strike. The union

provides $250 a week to striking members.

"I can go for six weeks, eight weeks, but it's up to Boeing ( BA )

management to decide when they want to offer a fair deal," said

Thinh Tan, an engineer in the 737 MAX factory.

Many factory workers are venting anger that has been brewing

for more than a decade as they watched their wages lag

inflation, while executive bonuses ballooned.

"I live paycheck to paycheck," said Ginn, clutching his son

in one arm and an 'On Strike Against Boeing' placard in the

other.

Even before its factory workers downed tools, Boeing ( BA ) was

wrestling with a safety and production crisis sparked by a door

panel flying off a near-new 737 MAX plane in midair in January.

Fitch and Moody's on Friday joined S&P Global Ratings in

warning that a prolonged strike could lead to a ratings

downgrade for Boeing ( BA ), which is saddled with $60 billion of debt.