Boeing workers vote to end strike

Striking workers at embattled plane maker Boeing voted Monday to accept the company’s most recent offer, ending the costliest strike in the United States in more than 25 years.

Striking workers at embattled plane maker Boeing voted Monday to accept the company’s most recent offer, ending the costliest strike in the United States in more than 25 years. The International Association of Machinists (IAM) said rank-and-file members voted by 59% to approve the deal. IAM members had voted almost unanimously against Boeing’s first offer on the eve of the start of the strike, and then 64% voted against the second offer less than two weeks ago, extending the strike. The 33,000 union members, who have been on strike since September 13, will start returning to work Wednesday. The deal calls for an immediate raise of 13% and raises of 9% for each of the next two years, and then another 7% in the fourth and final year of the contract. Taken together, members will receive a pay raise that exceeds 43%. Workers also get a ratification bonus of $12,000, part of which they can contribute to 401(k) retirement accounts. But the deal did not restore the traditional pension plan they lost in 2014 from their previous labor deal. Workers’ continued anger at the loss of that pension plan was seen as a major factor in the rejection of Boeing’s previous two offers and had raised uncertainty about the outcome of Monday’s vote. Union leadership had urged members to accept the latest offer, even though it was not significantly different from the offer they rejected on October 23. The union had urged members “to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory,” and warned members that another rejection could “risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”