Unionized machinists at Boeing voted on Monday Accept the contract offer and end your strike After more than seven weeks, the way has been cleared for the aerospace giant to resume production of its best-selling airliner and generate much-needed cash.
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district leaders in Seattle said 59% of voting members agreed to approve the company’s fourth formal proposal and a third voted in favor.
The deal includes a 38% pay increase over four years, and ratification and productivity bonuses.
However, Boeing refused to meet the strikers’ demand to reinstate the company’s pension plan, which had been frozen nearly a decade earlier.
Ratification of the contract on the eve of Election Day clears the way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to restart Pacific Northwest assembly lines after a 53-day shutdown due to a walkout by factory workers.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message to employees Monday night that it was pleased to reach an agreement.
“Although 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 much work ahead to bring back the excellence that made Boeing the iconic company that it is.”
According to the union, the 33,000 employees it represents can return to work by Wednesday or by November 12.
Boeing’s CEO has said it could take “a few weeks” to partially restart production because some may need retraining.
The average annual wage for Boeing machinists is currently $75,608 and will eventually increase to $119,309 under the new contract, according to the company.
Reactions were mixed even among union members who voted to accept the contract.
Although he voted “yes”, Seattle-based calibration expert Ep Bolaño said the result was “definitely not a victory.”
Bolaño said he and his fellow employees made the wise but angry decision to accept the offer.
“We were threatened by a company that was crippled, dying, bleeding on the floor and being one of the largest unions in the country, we could not even recover two-thirds of our demands from them. It’s outrageous,” she said.
For other employees, such as William Gardiner, laboratory head of Cal-Cert calibration services, the vote was cause for celebration.
“I’m extremely encouraged by this vote,” said Gardiner, who has worked for Boeing for 13 years. “We didn’t do everything right – that’s okay. Overall, this is a very positive contract.”
Leaders of IAM District 751 supported the latest proposal, saying they felt they had gotten all they could from negotiations and the strike.
“It is time for our members to uphold these gains and confidently declare victory,” the union district said before the vote. “We believe it would not be right to ask members to remain on strike for a longer period because we have achieved a lot of success.”
President Joe Biden congratulated the machinists and Boeing for reaching an agreement, saying it supports fairness in the workplace and improves workers’ ability to retire with dignity. The contract is critical to Boeing’s future as “a vital part of America’s aerospace sector,” he said.
A continued strike would have plunged Boeing into further financial trouble and uncertainty.
Ortberg, an outsider who only started at Boeing in August, planned to lay off about 10% of the workforce, about 17,000 people, because of the strike and a number of other factors that could undermine the company’s reputation and fortunes this year. Has announced.
