Boeing production workers voted 59% to accept the company’s offer of a 38% pay increase over the next four years plus an immediate $12,000 signing bonus. Acceptance ends a six-week strike that was straining Boeing’s balance sheet and delaying aircraft deliveries. “This is a victory. We can hold our heads high,” said Jon Holden, head of the International Association of Machinists, representing 33,000 workers at plants scattered around the Seattle area.
Some strikers will be back at work Wednesday, while the balance of the workforce will head back over the next week. Some estimates put the cost of the strike at more than $10 billion. Last week CEO Kelly Ortberg issued an ultimatum to the workers threatening to present a less generous offer if this one was rejected.
