About 30,000 workers in Seattle and Portland areas to strike
Boeing already wrestling with output delays, high debt
Strike poses a challenge for new CEO Kelly Ortberg
Shares fall 2.8 in premarket trade

SEATTLE, Sept 13 Reuters Boeing39;s U.S. West Coast factory workers walked off the job early on Friday after overwhelmingly rejecting a contract deal, halting production of the planemaker39;s strongestselling jet as it wrestles with severe output delays and heavy debt.

The first strike since 2008 comes as the planemaker is under heavy scrutiny from U.S. regulators and customers after a door panel blew off a 737 MAX jet midair in January.

The mounting crises hit Boeing39;s stock and sparked a leadership upheaval. The shares fell 2.8 in U.S. premarket trading on Friday, paring some earlier losses. The stock has lost nearly 38 so far this year, losing 58 billion in market value.

Shares in Spirit Aerosystems, the supplier Boeing is buying, fell 1.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg was brought in just weeks ago to restore faith in the planemaker and proposed a deal including a pay rise of 25 over four years, far lower than the 40 workers had demanded.

Roughly 30,000 International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers IAM members who produce Boeing39;s top selling 737 MAX and other jets in the Seattle and Portland areas voted on their first full contract in 16 years, with 94.6 rejecting it and 96 favoring a strike in a twopart ballot.

This is about respect, this is…