Boeing workers accept contract offer, ending crippling strike

Investing.com– Boeing Co (NYSE:) workers voted in favor of the planemaker’s latest contract offer, ending a long-running strike that had severely disrupted production for nearly two months.

Local media reports from Seattle said 59% of striking workers voted in favor of a new contract, which will entail wage hikes of 38% over the next four years. But the contract still did not include the return of a pension plan.

The vote bought an end to the strike, which involved about 33,000 West Coast factory workers. The strike had begun on September 13 and had halted most of Boeing’s plane production while also causing the firm to hemorrhage money. 

The strike was Boeing’s worst in 16 years, and came as an additional headwind for the plane maker, which was already grappling with heightened government scrutiny after a plane door blew off an Alaskan Airlines flight earlier this year. 

The company’s Starliner spacecraft also malfunctioned during its maiden voyage and stranded two astronauts aboard the International Space Station earlier this year. 

Analysts said the strike cost Boeing around $100 million a day, with the planemaker raising about $24 billion in capital last week to bolster its cash flow and maintain its credit rating. 

But even with the strike now resolved, the company is still expected to take some time before returning production to full capacity. Workers in its West Coast factories are expected to return this Wednesday.