Boeing union says it will vote on new proposal to end strike

Leaders of Boeing’s largest union said on Saturday that they had reached a “negotiated proposal” for a new contract and would put it up for a vote to end a long and expensive strike. In a post on its website on Saturday, the union said that “with the help of Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su,” it had reached a deal that “warrants presenting to the members and is worthy of your consideration.” The strike by the union’s more than 33,000 members, who mostly build commercial airplanes in the Seattle area, began on Sept. 13 and has taken a notable toll on Boeing, which was already in difficult financial straits. Within days of the walkout, Boeing announced cost-cutting measures, including temporary furloughs for tens of thousands of white-collar employees. The proposal, which was agreed to after multiple rounds of failed talks, would raise wages cumulatively by nearly 40% over the four-year life of the contract, according to details shared by the union. That is a significant increase over the previous proposal and close to the amount the union had initially sought. The deal also includes a bonus of $7,000 should workers ratify the deal, and the reinstatement of performance bonuses that were set to be cut. The union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said that the vote on the proposal would take place on Wednesday. In a statement, Boeing said, “We look forward to our employees voting on the negotiated proposal.” If members vote for the contract, it would replace one that was agreed to in 2008 after a two-month strike. Boeing later said in securities filings that the strike contributed to decline in revenue that year of about $6.4b because it delivered 104 fewer planes than expected. In its first week, the current strike cost the company at least $571m, according to an analysis by Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based research and consulting firm.<br/>