Boeing machinists vote to accept labor contract, ending seven-week strike

Boeing's 33,000 unionized machinists voted Wednesday to accept the plane maker's latest contract offer, ending a seven-week strike that had halted production of most of the company's passenger planes.

The union said 59% voted to accept the contract. Members will have the option to return to work as early as Wednesday but must be back at work by Tuesday, November 12, the union said in a statement.

Union leaders had urgently requested to do so Members must ratify the latest proposal, which would increase wages by 38% over the four-year term of the contract, up from a proposed 35% increase that members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) rejected last month.

The revised deal also includes a $12,000 cash bonus for hourly workers and increased contributions to retirement plans. The expanded offer does not address a key sticking point in the contentious talks – restoring pensions – but Boeing would increase its contributions to employee 401K plans.

The average annual wage for machinists, currently $75,608, would rise to $119,309 in four years under the current offer, Boeing said.

The vote came after IAM members rejected lower offers from the Seattle-based aerospace giant in September and October.

“In every negotiation and every strike, there comes a point where we have gotten everything we can through negotiations and through the restraint of our workforce,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said last week in supporting Boeing’s revised offer . “We are at this point now and risk declining or reduced supply in the future.”

Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su played an active role in the negotiations, having recently contributed to them End of a day Strike that briefly closed East and Gulf Coast ports.

The Boeing strike, which began Sept. 13, marked the latest setback for the manufacturing giant, which has been the subject of multiple federal investigations following a doorstop blown off a 737 Max plane during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The incident renewed concerns about the aircraft's safety after two planes crashed within five months in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.

Boeing agreed to plead guilty in July Conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving the regulators who approved the 737 Max.

During the strike, Boeing was unable to produce new 737 aircraft, which are manufactured at the company's Seattle-area assembly plants. A large Boeing jet, the 787 Dreamliner, is manufactured at a non-union factory in South Carolina.

The company reported last month a Loss in the third quarter of $6.1 billion.

contributed to this report.