Boeing Defense and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) have reached a tentative agreement to end a five-week strike at the company’s facilities in the St. Louis area.
Union officials said Wednesday that members of IAM District 837 will vote on Boeing’s new five-year contract offer on Friday. The deal includes a 24 percent wage increase spread over five years and a $4,000 ratification bonus.
The strike began on August 4 after 67 percent of the roughly 3,200 union members rejected Boeing’s previous four-year offer, which included a 20 percent wage increase and a $5,000 bonus. The workers assemble Boeing fighter jets, including F-15 and F/A-18 aircraft.
“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 products for our customers.”
Some workers remain cautious. “They didn’t really offer more, they just extended it another year,” said IAM member Brandon Thiel, who works on the F-15 program. Thiel said he was unsure how he would vote but noted that rising costs have offset most of his raises in recent years. “We just want to be comfortable, to not stress out on a daily basis,” he added.
If the agreement is approved, employees would begin returning to work on Monday evening, with production expected to normalize within a week, according to Gillian.
During the strike, Boeing relied on non-union staff to maintain production, although output slowed on some programs. On September 4, the company announced plans to hire replacement workers.
The tentative agreement comes shortly after contract talks with the help of a federal mediator ended without progress on Tuesday, leading to renewed discussions that extended into Wednesday.
The outcome of Friday’s vote will determine whether the strike ends or continues.
