By Dan Catchpole
(Reuters) – Boeing Defense and the machinists union have reached a tentative deal to end a five-week-long strike in the St. Louis area, union officials announced on Wednesday.
A vote on Boeing’s five-year contract offer is scheduled for Friday, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
IAM District 837’s roughly 3,200 members, who assemble Boeing fighter jets, went on strike on August 4 after voting 67% to reject the company’s last contract proposal.
“We’ve found a path forward on a five-year contract offer that grows wages by 45% on average,” Boeing Defense Vice President Dan Gillian said in a statement. “It remains the best deal we’ve ever offered to IAM 837, and we encourage our team to vote yes so we can get back to work building amazing products for our customers.”
The previous offer would have increased compensation by 40% on average during its four-year duration, according to the company.
On September 4, Boeing announced plans to hire replacement workers.
(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Franklin Paul and Marguerita Choy)
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