Boeing Co. will not face any work stoppage at the end of this year since its technical workers and aircraft engineers agreed to a six-year extension of their contract along with salary increases and additional job security.
The agreement reached on Wednesday involves 20,000 workers of one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world. It takes effect immediately and extends until 2022, according to a company statement published on its official website.
This agreement will end the contract negotiations ahead of the Oct. 6 deadline made by the worker's union. It will also ensure that a key element of the workforce of Boeing Co. will no longer go on strike.This is very timely since the world's largest plane maker is set to launch its latest 777X jetliner into active service by 2020.
According to the union statement sent through email, the agreement was approved by 73 percent of technical workers and 71 percent of union engineers.
It was the latest of a number of long-term contracts reached by Boeing and the company's collective bargaining units as the aircraft manufacturer veered away from short-term contracts that caused frequent labor unrest and strikes.
The move to prevent the strike gained momentum when Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Co.'s new CEO, met with Ray Goforth, executive director of the union, in October.
"This agreement recognizes and rewards the contributions of engineers and technical workers who are vital to our continued leadership in aerospace, and it will help ensure Boeing's competitiveness in our second century of business," said Muilenburg in a company statement.
According to the union, the agreement was unanimously endorsed by its executive board together with its two bargaining unit councils. Each of these groups has dozens of members.
Ray Goforth said that this could mean that union members will ratify the preliminary agreement by a wide margin.
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