Boeing Reaches a Tentative Accord With Striking Union

SEATTLE — Boeing Co. negotiators and leaders of its striking machinists union reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year labor contract.

The agreement, which must be approved by the 32,500 union members, comes after two days of intense bargaining to end a 45-day walkout that threatened to cripple the world’s largest aircraft maker.

Leaders of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the new contract answered many of the concerns that prompted their members to reject Boeing’s previous offer in October.

Members of the union, which represents about a third of Boeing’s workers, walked off the job Oct. 5. Many said they voted down the previous contract because it increased their health-care costs, did not raise wages enough and did not meet demands for greater job security.

“The bargaining committee has unanimously recommended that the membership accept this contract,” said Bill Johnson, president of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 in Seattle. “We think its a good agreement.”

The agreement “addresses the concerns of (union) employees and the realities of our business,” said Milt Grover, Boeing vice president of union relations.

Details of the agreement were not immediately available.

The union represents a broad range of hourly workers at Boeing, including production workers on all their airplanes, secretaries, maintenance people and nurses.