By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Boeing and the union representing more than 2,600 machinists in St. Louis reached a tentative agreement Wednesday night.
Union members will vote Sunday on whether to accept the new three-year contract.
Tom Pinski, a spokesman for International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, says a main selling point was the removal of language over seniority that the union opposed. Union members would have to pay more of their own health insurance under the plan but Pinski says those increases would be capped.
Boeing says the agreement calls for an average 9.5% wage increase and a 17% increase in pension benefits.
The nearly 2,600 workers at Boeing plants in suburban St. Louis are part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, making everything from fighter jets like the F-18 Super Hornet and F-15 Eagle to missiles and component parts.
Union members voted 1,167-38 last month to authorize a strike if a deal for a new contract wasn't reached by the time the current deal expires May 20.