Boeing machinists approve contract, ending grueling seven-week strike

SEATTLE – Boeing machinists voted yes approve the contract proposal on Monday, ending the book of a bloody strike that lasted more than 53 days.

The agreement that had support of the trade union leadershipwas approved by 59% of members voting.

“This is a victory,” said John Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, announcing the results late Monday at the union hall in Seattle. “We can hold our heads high. We all persevered and achieved what we haven’t achieved in the last 22 years.”

The deal will bring a 38% pay rise for the union’s 33,000 members – and a much-needed boost for a company desperate to use it.

Boeing published a stunning Loss of 6 billion dollars for the third quarter of the year, this is one of the worst quarters in the company’s history. These disappointing results were partly the result work stoppagewhich halted production at Boeing plants in the Pacific Northwest.

But Boeing’s problems run deeper. Even before the strike, the company was dealing with quality control and production problems in all commercial aviation operations. The company also announced a $2 billion loss on defense and space business.

A Boeing employee walks past a picket sign urging people to vote against the company's new contract proposal Monday in Everett, Washington. — A Boeing employee walks past a picket sign urging people to vote against the company’s new contract proposal Monday in Everett, Washington.

In a message to employees late Monday, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company was pleased to reach a ratified agreement with the union.

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

Machinists’ Union the vast majority are rejected the company’s first contract offer. Union members also voted against the second agreement less than two weeks ago, although the difference was not that big.

On Monday, the union voted for the third time on a contract that was slightly better than Boeing’s second offer. But this time, union leaders approved the agreement and warned that union members could get less if they don’t accept it.

“There is a point in every negotiation and strike where we have extracted all we can by negotiating and refusing to work,” union leaders said in a statement last week. “We are at this stage now and risk a regressive or lesser proposal in the future.”

Boeing’s wage offer improved from 25% in the original offer to 38% in the final agreement, still below the 40% increase the union originally wanted. Workers will also receive a $12,000 ratification bonus.

Boeing, still reeling from a $6 billion quarterly loss and an ongoing machinists' strike, is hoping to reopen its West Coast manufacturing facilities. They were essentially closed after 33,000 workers went on strike in mid-September to demand higher wages and better pension benefits. — Boeing, still reeling from a $6 billion quarterly loss and an ongoing machinists’ strike, is hoping to reopen its West Coast manufacturing facilities. They were essentially closed after 33,000 workers went on strike in mid-September to demand higher wages and better pension benefits.

But there is one key union demand that Boeing has not given up on. Machinists want company restore the traditional pension system they lost a decade ago, which remains a major source of anger among the union’s rank and file.

Boeing has said it does not want to reinstate its defined benefit pension plan, which it froze in 2014although he has proposed increasing company contributions to union members’ 401(k) pension plans.

for the last time Boeing machinists went on strike in 2008, a work stoppage that lasted nearly eight weeks and cost the company an estimated $2 billion. The economic damage this time could be even greater.

KUOW’s Casey Martin contributed reporting from Seattle and Joel Rose reported from Washington, D.C.