Boeing has reached a tentative deal on a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the union representing 3,200 workers that build military planes and equipment in St. Louis, Missouri.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union has been on strike since August 4, after turning down a proposed contract that had included improvements to medical benefits, pensions and overtime, as well as a 40% average wage increase over four years. The New York Times reports that the new contract agreed to by the union on September 10 would raise wages by 45%, although additional terms have yet to be released. The union is expected to vote on the tentative agreement on the morning of September 12.
The strikes at Boeing's St. Louis plants were the first in that location since 1996. On September 4, the planemaker announced plans to permanently replace striking workers with new hires, and had been using other non-union workers to keep production lines moving in the interim.
Another 33,000 Boeing machinists in Washington, California and Oregon went on strike for nearly two months in late 2024, before agreeing to a new contract in November. Boeing's output slowed to a trickle during those seven weeks, while the company burned through its cash reserves, fell further behind on aircraft deliveries, and saw its already strained supplier network buckle under the prolonged work stoppage.
