Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. workers approved a new labor contract, ending a six-day strike that threatened to disrupt output at planemakers Boeing Co. and Airbus SE.
About 6,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Spirit voted Thursday to ratify a four-year contract with the aerospace company, the union said. Some 63% of those who cast a ballot backed the deal.
Striking workers will return to work July 5.
The vote resolves a dispute that threatened output of Boeing’s 737 Max, the cash-cow jetliner whose fuselage is made primarily by Spirit. Production has been at a standstill since rank-and-file employees in Kansas voted to strike on June 22, rejecting an offer that was backed by union leaders.
Following the rebuke, union negotiators and Spirit reached a new tentative deal Monday with sweetened terms for health insurance and higher wages. The new contract would also limit mandatory overtime, another sticking point for striking workers.
Spirit said it will begin restoring operations at its main Wichita plant on June 30 and work to fully restore production by July 5. The company makes about 70% of the frame for Boeing’s 737 Max, the nose section of the 787 Dreamliner as well as engine pylons for Airbus’s A220 jet.
“We listened closely to our employees and brought forward a fair-and-competitive offer,” said Tom Gentile, Spirit’s chief executive officer.
(Updates with CEO statement, production details)
