Boeing Strike Ends After 7 Weeks as Workers Accept New Contract Offering Pay Hike

Seattle: Unionized machinists at Boeing voted Monday night to accept a contract offer and end ir strike after more than seven weeks, clearing way for aero giant to resume production of its bestselling airliner and generate much-needed cash.

Leaders of International Association of Machinists and Aero Workers district in Seattle said 59% of members who cast ballots agreed to approve company’s fourth formal offer and third put to a vote. deal includes pay raises of 38% over four years, and ratification and productivity bonuses.

However, Boeing refused to meet strikers’ demand to restore a company pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.

contract’s ratification on eve of Election Day clears way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to restart Pacific rthwest assembly lines that factory worker walkouts have idled for 53 days.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a mess to employees that he was pleased to have reached an agreement.

“While past few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of same team,” Ortberg said. “We will only move forward by listening and working toger. re is much work ahead to return to excellence that made Boeing an iconic company.”

According to union, 33,000 workers it represents can return to work as soon as Wednesday or as late as v. 12. Ortberg has said it might take “a couple of weeks” to resume production in part because some could need retraining.

aver annual pay of Boeing machinists is currently $75,608 and eventually will rise to $119,309 under new contract, according to company.

Reactions were mixed even among union members who voted to accept contract.

Although she voted “yes,” Seattle-based calibration specialist Eep Bolaño said outcome is “most certainly t a victory.” Bolaño said she and her fellow workers made a wise but infuriating choice to accept offer.

“We were threatened by a company that was crippled, dying, bleeding on ground, and us as one of biggest unions in country couldn’t even extract two-thirds of our demands from m. This is humiliating,” she said.

For or workers like William Gardiner, a lab lead for Cal-Cert calibration services, vote was a cause for celebration.

“I’m extremely pumped over this vote,” said Gardiner, who has worked for Boeing for 13 years. “We didn’t fix everything — that’s OK. Overall, it’s a very positive contract.”

Union leaders had endorsed latest proposal, saying y thought y had gotten all y could though negotiations and strike.

“It is time for our members to lock in se gains and confidently declare victory,” leaders of IAM District 751 said before vote. “We believe asking members to stay on strike longer wouldn’t be right as we have achieved so much success.”

President Joe Biden congratulated machinists and Boeing for coming to an agreement that he said supports fairness in workplace and improves workers’ ability to retire with dignity. contract, he said, is important for Boeing’s future as “a critical part of America’s aero sector.”

Biden’s acting labor secretary, Julie Su, intervened in negotiations several times, including last week when Boeing made its latest proposal.

A continuing strike would have plunged Boeing into furr financial peril and uncertainty.

strike began Sept. 13 with an overwhelming 94.6% rejection of company’s offer to raise pay by 25% over four years — far less than union’s original demand for 40% w increases over three years.

Machinists voted down ar offer — 35% raises over four years, and still revival of pensions — on Oct. 23, same day that Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion.

contract rejections reflected bitterness that built up after union concessions and small pay increases over past decade.

labor standoff — first strike by Boeing machinists since an eight-week walkout in 2008 — is latest setback in a volatile year for aero giant. 2008 strike lasted eight weeks and cost company about $100 million daily in deferred revenue. A 1995 strike lasted 10 weeks.

Boeing came under several federal investigations this year after a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Federal regulators put limits on Boeing airplane production that y said would last until y felt confident about manufacturing safety at company.

door-plug incident renewed concerns about safety of 737 Max. Two of planes had crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. CEO at time, whose efforts to fix company failed, anunced in March that he would step down. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved 737 Max.

Ortberg, who started at Boeing only in August, has anunced plans to lay off about 10% of workforce, about 17,000 people, due to strike and or factors that diminished company’s reputation and fortunes this year.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday’s vote puts Boeing’s future back on more solid footing.

“Washington is home to world’s most skilled aero workers, and y understandably took a stand for respect and compensation y deserve,” Inslee said in a statement congratulating workers.

(Except for headline, this story has t been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)