Boeing factory workers vote to end seven-week strike and accept pay deal

A strike by 33,000 Boeing factory workers is coming to an end

Unionized machinists at Boeing voted Monday to accept a contract offer and end their strike after more than seven weeks, clearing the way for the aerospace giant to resume production of its bestselling airliner and generate much-needed cash.

Leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district in Seattle said 59 percent of members who cast ballots agreed to approve the company’s fourth formal offer and the third put to a vote.

The deal includes pay raises of 38 percent over four years, and ratification and productivity bonuses.

However, Boeing refused to meet strikers’ demand to restore a company pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.

The contract’s ratification on the eve of Election Day clears the way for a major US manufacturer and government contractor to restart Pacific Northwest assembly lines that the factory workers’ walkout have idled for 53 days.

According to the union, the 33,000 workers it represents can return to work as soon as Wednesday or as late as November 12.

Boeing’s CEO Kelly Ortberg has said it might take “a couple of weeks” to resume production in part because some could need retraining.

Ortberg has been under pressure to repair the company’s reputation and financial losses following a string of high-profile setbacks and disasters.

Boeing employees gather around a burn barrel as others arrive to vote on a new contract offer from the company Monday November 5 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

In mid-January, flight safety came under scrutiny when an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9’s door plug blew off, causing the grounding of all 171 MAX 9 jets by the FAA while they investigated.

Boeing executives admitted they couldn’t say with absolute certainty that another such incident would “not occur tomorrow” as they were forced to give testimony to the US National Transportation Safety Board last month.

In July, a wheel fell off a United Airlines Boeing 757-200 moments after it took off from Los Angeles. And Boeing struck a plea deal with the Justice Department earlier this year to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The conspiracy charge related to the company allegedly misleading federal regulators into approving the 737 Max jetliner —the aircraft model that was later involved in two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which together claimed the lives of 346 people.