Boeing factory workers vote to accept contract and end more than seven weeks of strike

SEATTLE — Unionized Boeing machinists voted Monday to accept a contract offer and end a strike after more than seven weeks, clearing the way for the aerospace giant to restart production of its popular airliner and raise much-needed cash.

Leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Seattle district said 59% of voting members agreed to approve the company’s fourth formal proposal, while a third was put to a vote. The agreement includes a 38% wage increase over four years, as well as ratification and performance bonuses.

However, Boeing refused to comply with the strikers’ demand to restore the company’s pension plan, which was frozen almost ten years ago.

Ratification of the contract ahead of Election Day clears the way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to reopen Pacific Northwest assembly lines that have been idle for 53 days due to a factory workers’ strike.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to employees Monday night that he was pleased to reach an agreement.

“While the last few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of the same team,” Ortberg said. “We will only move forward by listening and working together. There is still a lot of work ahead to return to the excellence that has made Boeing an iconic company.”

The union says the 33,000 workers it represents could return to work as early as Wednesday or as early as November 12. Boeing’s CEO said it could take “a couple of weeks” to resume production, in part because some may need to be retrained.

The contract decision “probably is not a victory,” said Yip Bolaño, a Boeing calibration specialist in Seattle who voted for ratification. Bolaño said she and her fellow workers made a wise but infuriating choice in accepting the offer.

“We were threatened by a company that was crippled, dying, bleeding on the ground, and we, as one of the largest unions in the country, could not even get two-thirds of our demands from them. It’s humiliating,” Bolaño said.

IAM District 751 leaders supported the latest proposal, saying they felt they got all they could through negotiations and a strike.

“Now is the time for our members to build on these gains and confidently declare victory,” the union district said ahead of Monday’s vote. “We believe that asking members to continue the strike any longer would be wrong as we have had so much success.”

The average annual salary for Boeing machinists is currently $75,608 and will eventually rise to $119,309 under the new contract, according to the company.

An ongoing strike would plunge Boeing into even greater financial danger and uncertainty.

CEO Kelly Ortberg, an outsider who only started working at Boeing in August, announced plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, about 17,000 people, due to the strike and a range of other factors that have worsened the company’s reputation and fortunes this year. .