Boeing machinists end eight-week strike with 38% pay rise, Biden praises deal

Boeing received more than $1 million in unnecessary spending on US military contractswhich overpaid the manufacturer by 8,000% just for soap dispensers, a recent audit found. Now she will have to share part of the production with the workers.

A machinists union in the Pacific Northwest ended a nearly eight-week strike, winning a 38% wage increase and promising to build the region’s next plane, averting disaster for Boeing parts suppliers who had begun laying off workers or absorbing the costs of waiting for Boeing to resume purchasing and wait for deliveries. 737 airlines, Wall Street Journal reported.

Workers rejected the first two offers of a 25% wage increase and then 35%. By the end of the four-year agreement, average wages will now reach about $119,000 for 33,000 workers. Boeing will simultaneously cut 10% of its workforce in the coming months.

Union branch president John Holden said the key point was that “we had enormous influence this time.” Boeing said it will take months to reach the level of production it expects to reach by the end of the year.

President Biden praised the deal, and the White House said federal officials were involved in the negotiations. “This contract is also important to Boeing’s future as a critical part of America’s aerospace sector,” Biden said.

The company has faced repeated scrutiny and embarrassment in the past year. Elon Musk’s SpaceX rescues Boeing Starliner astronauts trapped on the International Space Station and concerns about quality control and mechanical failures, including new federal safety warning for its 737s.