STORY: The big strike at Boeing is over.
West Coast factory workers voted Monday to accept a new offer on pay.
That will see them get a 38% bump over four years.
Union negotiators had recommended that members back the new offer.
The deal ends the first strike in 16 years by the company’s largest union, and will be a relief for Boeing.
Analysts estimate the stoppage was costing it around $100 million per day.
It brought to a halt output of many jets, including its best-selling 737 MAX.
Now it will still take time to ramp up production and get cash flowing in again.
Two sources told Reuters that 737 output was expected to languish in the single digits per month for some time.
That’s far short of the 38 per month that Boeing had targeted before the strike.
The company has lurched from crisis to crisis this year, starting with a midair blowout on one of its MAX planes.
That put Boeing’s manufacturing quality under fresh scrutiny, and led to production curbs imposed by regulators.
Now new chief executive Kelly Ortberg will hope to reset relations with workers, who had been angered by years of below-inflation wage increases.
Analysts estimate the new deal will add some $1.1 billion to the firm’s wage bill over the next four years – with a one-off ratification bonus for union members to add even more.
Union negotiators called it a ‘victory’ for workers.
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