Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO) has offered thousands of staff a 25% pay rise in a bid to avert strikes planned for coming weeks.
A tentative agreement has been reached with workers in the US Pacific Northwest, Boeing said at the weekend, which will also see its next commercial aircraft built in the Seattle area.
Some 32,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union will now have until Thursday to approve the deal, with a rejection potentially leading to strikes.
The deal was below the union’s target for a 40% pay increase, but IAM hailed Boeing’s offer as the best it has negotiated yet.
Although Boeing has yet to unveil details about the jet that will replace its widely-used 737 narrow-body aircraft, the deal awaiting approval by the union members will also guarantee this new aircraft will be built in the Seattle and Portland area.
This planned jet is expected to enter service by the late 2030s, with rival Airbus Group (EPA:AIR) also said to be in the early stages of designing a new single-aisle model.
“This would go along with our other flagship models, meaning job security for generations to come,” Boeing commercial airplanes boss Stephanie Pope said in a message to employees.
Boeing’s move to increase pay for the employees, who currently produce wide-body 777 and 767 models, comes as the manufacturer already grapples with financial pressures due to scrutiny over its quality control procedures, which erupted into public and investor consciousness when a door panel blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight.
Losses sat at US$1.44 billion over the second quarter on the back of struggles to improve production quality.