Boeing and a union that represents about 3,200 employees who build military aircraft and equipment in the St. Louis area reached a deal on Wednesday on a proposed contract that could end a five-week strike.
The workers walked off the job on Aug. 4 after rejecting an earlier deal between the company and the union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837.
The union said its new five-year contract proposal included improved raises and the restoration of a signing bonus. Officials did not publicly share many details, but said members would soon receive more information.
Workers will vote on the contract on Friday morning. The deal that they rejected included improvements to medical benefits, pensions, overtime and work-life balance. It also would have raised wages 40 percent, on average, over four years.
Boeing said the new deal would raise wages 45 percent, on average.
“It remains the best deal we’ve ever offered to I.A.M. 837, and we encourage our team to vote yes so we can get back to work building amazing products for our customers,” Dan Gillian, a Boeing vice president, said in a statement.
Tensions between the workers and the company have been escalating. Boeing said last week that it was preparing to hire permanent replacements for some of the strikers.
The St. Louis plants are open, and workers who are not on strike continue to build, test and deliver some products, Boeing said. The company’s defense unit brought in about $23 billion in revenue last year, more than a third of the company’s total sales.
The strike is the first at the St. Louis plants since 1996, when workers walked off the job for 99 days. About 33,000 Boeing workers who mostly build commercial planes in the Seattle area went on strike for nearly two months last year before reaching a deal and returning to work.
Niraj Chokshi is a Times reporter who writes about aviation, rail and other transportation industries.
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