The term “machinist” is used very loosely here. They are aircraft mechanics, assemblers, and fitters. They can be replaced in hours should the company desire, and could have full production return within a week.
The gotcha is the sabotage left by the striking workers. I.A.M. always does this when striking.
A couple of years ago, during the Boeing strike over the move to South Carolina, Boeing ran a test flight on a new plane and had to cut the flight short and return to Boeing field. The problem turned out to be metal shavings, left in the fuel tank, blocking the fuel line.
No good machinist ( and they are machinists that work on the prototypes) would leave metal shavings in a fuel tank.