AEROSPACE

McDonnell Douglas Machinists Reject Contract: Members of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in St. Louis voted 4,394 to 689 to reject the company’s offer made Saturday. McDonnell Douglas Corp. officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Details of the proposal also were not immediately available. The union members are scheduled to begin the strike at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. Workers at the St. Louis plant assemble F-15 and F-18 fighter planes and parts for the C-17 military transport plane. The main contract issue is outsourcing--that is, firing union workers and having outside companies perform those workers’ tasks. By some estimates, McDonnell Douglas wants to eliminate one-third of the union jobs through outsourcing. The negotiators were expected to agree to pay raises for the union workers, which McDonnell Douglas said will probably be “in the ballpark” of 3% a year.