Boeing's US West Coast factory workers will walk off the job after 96% voted on Thursday in favor of a strike, halting production of the planemaker's

The airplane maker already faces a host of serious challenges as it tries to repair a broken safety culture. The strike and union demands for higher wages further darkens its bleak financial situation.

When thousands of Boeing employees rejected a new labor contract, precipitating a strike that began on Friday, they were at odds not just with management but also with the leaders of their union, who backed the proposed deal.