Settlement likely averts Boeing strike

Eron Ben-Yehuda

The Boeing Co. reached a tentative agreement with one of its unions

Tuesday evening, narrowly averting what would have been its first strike

in almost 25 years.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace

Workers must still vote to ratify the three-year deal Friday, company

spokeswoman Erin Lutz said.

The deal offers union members more job security, better pension and

medical benefits, and higher bonuses, said Nick Bacon, president of the

union’s local chapter, district 725.

About 1,500 union members work at Boeing’s headquarters near Bolsa Chica

Street and Bolsa Avenue.

Although the company did not agree to all of its demands, union

negotiators fought for the best possible terms, Bacon said.

The union had authorized a strike Oct. 24, but both sides continued

negotiating during the seven-day “cooling off” period before strike

activity could begin, Lutz said.

Boeing’s last strike took place in 1975, when workers walked the job

after the company closed its Santa Monica plant.