Machinists Union, Boeing Reach Tentative Deal To End Strike In St. Louis Area

Boeing Defense and a machinists union have reached a tentative deal to end a five-week-long strike in the St. Louis area, union officials said on Sept. 10.

Workers at Boeing’s St. Louis facilities produce F-15 and F/A-18 fighter jets, the T-7A Red Hawk trainer, and various advanced weapons systems for the US military.

“The five-year tentative agreement includes improvements to general wage increases and restores a signing bonus,” the union said in a Sept. 10 post on X.

As Melanie Sun reports for The Epoch Times, Boeing’s latest contract proposal comes after continued negotiations since Aug. 4, when about 3,200 union members in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 837 went on strike over conditions in a previous offer. That contract was turned down by 67 percent of the members, who are among those assembling Boeing fighter jets at facilities in Berkeley and St. Charles in Missouri, and Mascoutah in Illinois.

Members are demanding higher wages, which they say are needed to support their families.

“IAM District 837 members build the aircraft and defense systems that keep our country safe,” Sam Cicinelli, Midwest territory general vice president for IAM, said in an Aug. 3 statement.

“They deserve nothing less than a contract that keeps their families secure and recognizes their unmatched expertise.”

Boeing Defense Vice President Dan Gillian announced the new offer in a statement on Wednesday.

“We’ve found a path forward on a five-year contract offer that grows wages by 45 percent on average,” he said.

“It remains the best deal we’ve ever offered to IAM 837, and we encourage our team to vote yes so we can get back to work building amazing products for our customers.”

The deal includes a 24 percent general wage increase over five years and a $4,000 ratification bonus, among other terms.

The previous August offer was a four-year contract for a 20 percent wage increase and a $5,000 bonus, alongside medical, pension, and overtime benefits. The new deal increases average pay by 45 percent from $75,000 to $109,000, according to the company. The previous deal would have raised compensation by 40 percent on average.

Amid the deadlock, Boeing on Sept. 4 announced plans to hire replacement workers. Gillian said that output for some programs at the sites had slowed due to the union’s strike, but non-union employees had continued with some production.

Gillian said that the new deal assures all workers of another year of raises, “So, I feel good about the offer.”

The IAM said a vote on Boeing’s new five-year contract offer has been scheduled for Friday. If the contract is approved, workers would start returning Monday evening, and production would be back to normal in about a week, Gillian told reporters on Wednesday.

A seven-week strike by IAM District 751 members in Washington and Oregon ended with a contract from Boeing that included a 38 percent wage increase and a $12,000 signing bonus.

Boeing has struggled financially in recent years, and the company’s safety culture has been the subject of increased scrutiny following multiple high-profile tragedies.

In June 2025, a Boeing Dreamliner operated by Air India crashed, killing at least 260 people. Crashes involving Boeing 737 Max aircraft in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 killed 346 people. In January 2024, the door plug of a Boeing 737 Max 9 detached mid-flight, depressurizing the cabin and forcing an emergency landing.

Boeing reported on July 28 that its losses had narrowed in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025. The company posted a loss of $611 million, down from $1.44 billion over the same period the previous year.