Boeing Strike Ends After 53 Days As Workers Accept Contract

Tens of thousands of Boeing workers are ending their 53-day strike after voting to accept a contract offer with significant wage gains on Monday.

The deal between the airplane manufacturer and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers gives employees a 38% raise over four years, an increased 401(k) contribution and a one-time payment of up $12,000 for ratifying the contract, among other provisions.

The agreement, approved with 59% of ballots, is much closer to the original 40% raise that the union had pushed for; the company had been offering 25% when workers walked off the job on Sept. 13.

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company was “pleased” to settle a contract and get back to building planes.

“There is much work ahead to return to the excellence that made Boeing an iconic company,” he said in a statement.

The deal also includes a minimum 4% annual bonus that Boeing had proposed eliminating in earlier negotiations. However, it does not restore the defined-benefit pension that had been phased out in a previous contract — something many workers had demanded.

Jon Holden and Brandon Bryant, local union leaders for the machinists, said in a joint statement that the deal creates “a new foundation to build on for the future.”

“We are ready to help Boeing change direction and return to building the highest quality and safest airplanes in the world,” they said. “Our members are critical to that mission, and now have a stronger voice in the decision making process to ensure those needed improvements are made.”

The union said the deal had been negotiated with a hand from acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, who also helped broker a temporary deal to end the dockworkers strike last month.

Su said in a statement that the deal showed “what is possible when workers have a real voice on the job.”

“This agreement proves yet again that collective bargaining works,” she said.

The Boeing strike halted production of the 737 MAX, 777 and 767 planes in the Puget Sound region of Washington. It involved more than 30,000 workers, making it one of the largest work stoppages of the year.

It was just the latest setback for a company that’s been plagued by manufacturing delays, a credit downgrade and a series of safety scandals that damaged its reputation.

In January, a door panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight, forcing an emergency landing and prompting a fresh round of congressional scrutiny. The Federal Aviation Administration put a cap on Boeing’s plane production following the incident.

Boeing logged a $6 billion loss in the quarter that ended in September, the company announced. It is in the midst of slashing its workforce.

Ortberg had announced last month that the company would undertake a “fundamental culture change” to get itself back on track.

“We need to be on the factory floors, in the back shops and in our engineering labs. We need to know what’s going on, not only with our products, but with our people,” Ortberg said. “And most importantly, we need to prevent the festering of issues and work better together to identify, fix, and understand [the] root cause.”

He also said he was committed to “resetting” the company’s relationship with the machinists union, which represents employees in Boeing’s manufacturing and parts plants.

This story has been updated with comment from Ortberg, Holden, Bryant and Su.