Boeing workers accept contract offer, ending crippling strike
Investing.com– Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) workers voted in favor of the planemaker’s latest contract offer on Monday evening, ending a long-running strike that had severely disrupted production for nearly two months.
Local media reports from Seattle said 59% of striking workers voted in favor of a new contract, which will entail wage hikes of 38% over the next four years. But the contract still did not include the return of a pension plan.
Monday’s vote was the third time striking workers voted on a contract offer from Boeing, having rejected two prior offers. Monday’s decision brings an end to the strike, which involved about 33,000 West Coast factory workers.
The strike had begun on September 13 and had halted most of Boeing’s plane production while also costing the firm about $100 million a day in lost revenue.
The strike was Boeing’s worst in 16 years, and came as an additional headwind for the plane maker, which was already grappling with heightened government scrutiny after a plane door blew off an Alaskan Airlines flight earlier this year.
The company’s Starliner spacecraft also malfunctioned during its maiden voyage and stranded two astronauts aboard the International Space Station earlier this year.
The strike saw Boeing hemorrhaging cash, which saw the planemaker raising about $24 billion in capital last week to bolster its cash flow and maintain its credit rating.
But even with the strike now resolved, the company is still expected to take some time before returning production to full capacity. Workers in its West Coast factories are expected to return this Wednesday.
