Boeing continues to struggle following a rash of safety issues that have plagued the airline manufacturer.

Some 33,000 Boeing workers walked off the job on Friday, as a strike began at midnight Pacific Time. The vote to strike was nearly unanimous. 

“This is about respect, this is about the past, and this is about fighting for our future,” IAM District 751 President Jon Holden said. “We strike at midnight.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE DALLAS EXPRESS APP

Multiple incidents involving Boeing aircraft in recent months have stoked concerns about the safety of the company’s planes, as reported extensively by DX. Whistleblowers have accused the company of faulty quality control measures and falsifying records.

Critics of the air travel industry have raised concerns about its obsession with “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives over core business and safety practices, as reported previously by DX. This shift in focus has sparked debates about whether such initiatives could potentially be contributing factors that compromise passenger safety at companies like Boeing, Southwest, and American Airlines.

Most recently, the airline company left two astronauts stranded at the International Space Station who were only meant to be in space for eight days, but technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft have left them stranded until next year.

The New York Times reports on the decision by Boeing employees to strike. Here’s the start of the story:

Thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job on Friday after rejecting a contract offer from the company, a potentially costly disruption as Boeing tries to increase airplane production after a safety crisis.

The strike, the first at Boeing in 16 years, is expected to bring operations to a halt in the Seattle area, home to most of Boeing’s commercial plane manufacturing. The slowdown could also further disrupt the company’s fragile supply chain.

Kelly Ortberg, the company’s new chief executive, had urged employees to approve the deal. “A strike would put our shared recovery in jeopardy, further eroding trust with our customers,” he said in a video statement on Wednesday.

Boeing plays a substantial role in the U.S. economy. It employs almost 150,000 people across the country — nearly half of them in Washington State — and is one of the nation’s largest exporters. The company, which also makes military jets, rockets, spacecraft and Air Force One, is a global symbol of America’s manufacturing strength.

The union said the strike vote passed by 96 percent, well above the two-thirds required to initiate a walkout, after 95 percent rejected the proposed contract.