by Allison Lampert and David Shepardson
(Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Sunday it had reached a tentative agreement with a union representing more than 32,000 workers in the Seattle and Portland areas, which could help defuse a call for a major strike planned for Sept. 13.
The proposed four-year deal is an early victory for Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who took office last month. It includes a 25 percent across-the-board pay raise and a commitment to build the company’s next commercial jet in the Seattle area.
The deal also includes 12 weeks of paid parental leave, better job security, enhanced retirement benefits and other benefits. It will need to be approved Thursday by workers at Boeing plants near Seattle and Portland, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
“Under this contract, our Puget Sound team will build Boeing’s next airplane, alongside our other flagship models, which means job security for generations to come,” Stephanie Pope, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a message to employees.
A labor deal is important for the planemaker as its cash flow dwindles and it tries to ramp up production of its best-selling 737 MAX to 38 planes a month by the end of the year. It also helps avoid a strike that could draw attention to Boeing ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Boeing has been facing a quality crisis and scrutiny from regulators and customers since a mid-air incident in January involving an Alaska Air plane.
(Reporting Surbhi Misra, Utkarsh Shetti and Anshuman Tripathy in Bangalore and David Shepardson in Washington; Claude Chendjou)
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