Boeing Machinists in St. Louis Ratify 3-Year Contract

Boeing Co. machinists at the St. Louis military-aircraft plant voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new contract Sunday, avoiding a strike that would have begun this morning.

Seventy-five percent of members of District 837 of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers approved the three-year deal with Boeing. The vote was 1,913 in favor, 645 against.

Workers voted on a rain-soaked day just hours before their old contract was to expire. A strike would have been the union’s second in five years.

IAM District 837 conducted a 99-day strike against McDonnell Douglas in 1996 before ratifying its current contract. Boeing, which builds the F-15 and F/A-18 at its St. Louis-based Military Aircraft & Missile Systems division, merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.

Boeing and the union agreed on a new contract early Thursday morning after 17 hours of talks. The deal came after union leaders agreed to hold off from a strike authorized by its members and give negotiations another try.

The contract members approved Sunday gives workers a $1,200 signing bonus and wage increases of 3% in the first year of the deal, followed by annual increases of 4%. Boeing had previously offered no signing bonus--workers in Seattle got a 10% bonus two years ago--and a first-year wage increase of 3%, followed by bonuses of 3% in each of the next two years.

Boeing spokeswoman Barbara Anderson said the contract specifically prevents the company from laying off workers because of increases in productivity. Layoffs also are prohibited unless the company faces a “catastrophic change” in business, she said.

Union leaders working to persuade members to approve the contract cited the prospective $300-billion Joint Strike Fighter contract, to be awarded by the Pentagon in October, as reason to vote yes and avoid a strike.

Shares of Seattle-based Boeing ended up $2.11 Friday to close at $65 on the New York Stock Exchange.