Boeing workers vote on recent agreement that could complete strike

Tens of thousands of striking Boeing machinists are casting ballots on Monday over whether to approve a agreement propose that could complete their work stoppage after seven weeks.

The recent propose delivers higher pay increases and a bolstered ratification bonus that would deliver each worker $12,000 if the union approves the deal, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing 33,000 Boeing workers in Washington, Oregon and California.

The ongoing standoff has strained the finances of both sides. Union members have received $250 per week from a strike pool, beginning in the third week of the work stoppage. That compensation marks a major pay cut for many of the employees.

Boeing and its shareholders have lost about $5.5 billion since the strike began in September, according to an approximate last month from the Anderson Economic throng. Shares of Boeing have plummeted 40% this year but have ticked up slightly over the history month.

Union members resoundingly defeated two previous proposals from Boeing, but the latest propose marks the best deal the workforce is likely to receive, the union said in a community note to membership on Saturday.

“This is truly the period to lock in these gains and work to construct more in upcoming negotiations,” IAM President Jon Holden and the union’s negotiating committee told members. “Allow yourself to capture this triumph and be proud of your sacrifice.”

The proposed agreement would deliver a 38% raise over the four-year duration of the agreement, upping the 35% cumulative raise provided in a previous propose overwhelmingly rejected by workers in a vote two weeks ago. Workers had initially sought a 40% cumulative pay boost.

The proposal also calls for hiking Boeing’s contribution to a 401(k) schedule, but it declines to fulfill workers’ call for a reinstatement of the business’s defined retirement fund. Workers lost a traditional retirement fund schedule in a agreement ratified by the union in 2014.

Nearly two thirds of union members rejected the most recent agreement propose in a vote last month. The outcome followed the overwhelming loss of a previous proposal in September, which drew rebuke from more than 90% of union members.

“It’s period we all arrive back together and focus on rebuilding the business and delivering the globe’s best airplanes,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg wrote in a memo to employees on Friday. “There are a lot of people depending on us.”

It will receive a majority vote of union members to approve the agreement propose. If workers ratify the deal, they can profit to work as early as Wednesday, the union said.

“​​The selection to complete this strike is correct where it needs to be — in the membership’s hands,” Holden and the negotiating committee said in their community note.