By a vote of 823-544, workers approved a deal that improves employee healthcare and pension plans from a proposal overwhelmingly rejected by union members in early May, leading to the plant's first strike in more than 25 years.
Workers will begin returning to the sprawling C-17 production line next to Long Beach Airport today, with full production resuming within several days.
"The new contract recognizes our employees' ongoing contributions to our success while enhancing the company's ability to increase our competitiveness and keep the C-17 airlifter affordable so that we can win new work and extend the life of the production line in Long Beach," Boeing officials said in a statement.
Workers walked off the job May 11 in a dispute over healthcare and pension benefits affecting some 1,700 employees involved in production and assembly of the $200 million cargo jet.
The sprawling production line next to Long Beach Airport was quickly shuttered, though some 3,000 other non-union C-17 workers involved in sales, management, research and other departments have continued reporting to work.
After weeks of picketing and posturing, the two parties began meeting again June 3 after a federal mediator agreed to help negotiate a compromise. The new proposal extends the contract by 12 months while reducing employee healthcare contributions from the previous offer.
A company increase in pension benefits was also included in the revised contract, while pay increases and job-protection proposals have been left untouched.
Boeing offered a $4,000 lump-sum payment in lieu of a raise this year, with 3 percent annual wage increases in following years.
After unanimously urging members to reject the previous contract (the previous vote was 1,103 against the contract and 285 for it), nine of the union's 10 negotiators this time recommended approval, providing a boost to supporters of the plan on both sides.
Boeing employs nearly 5,000 people in Long Beach, with C-17 vendors and suppliers in 44 states supporting an estimated 30,000 more jobs.
C-17 production is officially expected to end by 2013, though the Indian media is reporting that Congress this week approved the sale of 10 C-17s to the Indian Air Force. As part of the deal, Boeing would also provide lifetime service and parts for India's jets - maintenance that would be performed at a Boeing warehouse near Spring Street and Redondo Avenue.
While the jet has been the workhorse of the United States Air Force since production began in the mid-1990 s, other countries have increasingly turned to Boeing's massive airlifter for military and humanitarian needs.
The United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Australia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased C-17s in recent years, and deals are reportedly being discussed for sales to Saudi Arabia, Japan, Pakistan and Denmark.
If foreign orders are secured in coming months, the Long Beach plant could remain in production well into the decade.
(Kristopher Hanson - Long Beach Press Telegram)
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