Boeing machinists vote to end strike after 53 days

Boeing machinists voted Monday to end a strike that has hobbled the company for the past 53 days.

The new contract includes a 38 percent wage increase over the next four years and a $12,000 ratification bonus. According to Boeing, the average machinist will make $119,309 per year at the end of the four years, up around $43,700 from the previous contract’s average of $75,608.

The vote clears the runway for Boeing to resume production at facilities around Seattle and Portland at a pivotal period for the planemaker.

The strike put a massive financial strain on the company, which has been scrutinized by regulators since the door of a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off shortly after an Alaska Airlines flight in January, prompting safety and oversight reforms that slowed production even before the strike.

Boeing president and CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a message Friday that the strike has been “difficult” for everyone and urged union members to approve the new proposal.

“It’s time we all come back together and focus on rebuilding the business and delivering the world’s best airplanes. There are a lot of people depending on us,” Ortberg wrote.

This was the third proposal the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has brought to its members for a vote.

Boeing’s offers have jumped significantly since Sept. 13, when 33,000 machinists walked off the job after overwhelmingly rejecting the first proposal, which included a 25 percent wage increase over the next four years.

Members rejected a second proposal at the end of October that included a 35 percent wage increase over the next four years and a $7,000 ratification bonus.

The deal stops short of reinstating defined-benefit pension plans demanded by workers. But the union urged its members to vote “yes” on the contract and preserve leverage for future negotiations, saying the “entire bargaining committee believes it is time to settle this strike and move forward.”