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Boeing Reaches Deal With Striking Union

Tentative agreement would end 52-day machinists walkout

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 28, 2008 3:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – Boeing's 27,000 striking machinists could be back to work within days if they approve a deal hammered out with the help of a federal mediator late last night, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The deal will give machinists a 15% pay increase over four years and limit the amount of work outside companies can perform in Boeing plants. Job security has been the central issue for strikers.

Union members are expected to vote in favor of the deal and end the strike—now in its 52nd day—that has cost Boeing billions and delayed production of the 787 Dreamliner. Union chiefs hailed the workers’ perserverance and said the new deal represented a big step forward from Boeing's "final offer," rejected by machinists last month.

A discarded picket sign rests on a sidewalk Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, near Boeing Field in Seattle as an airplane flies through the air at right.
A discarded picket sign rests on a sidewalk Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, near Boeing Field in Seattle as an airplane flies through the air at right.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Striking Boeing Co. worker Joe Tello, a painter who works at Boeing's Frederickson plant in Puyallup, Wash., walks a picket line Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, near Boeing Field in Seattle.
Striking Boeing Co. worker Joe Tello, a painter who works at Boeing's Frederickson plant in Puyallup, Wash., walks a picket line Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, near Boeing Field in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
A sign of support from Boeing's engineers' union is shown Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, as striking Boeing Machinists walk a picket line near Boeing Field in Seattle.
A sign of support from Boeing's engineers' union is shown Monday, Oct. 27, 2008, as striking Boeing Machinists walk a picket line near Boeing Field in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
A striker mans a picket line next to a mock tombstone that strikers say marks the death of lean economic times at Boeing, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008.
A striker mans a picket line next to a mock tombstone that strikers say marks the death of lean economic times at Boeing, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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This strike had nothing to do with money or wages. We make pretty good money, we all know that. This has to do with job security and making sure that management does what they say they're going to do. - Jim Jones, 36, who works on 747 wings

Each of you stood up and did your part to win this battle, which was a fight against more than just Boeing, but against corporate America. 
- Tom Wroblewski, president of local District 751

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