Boeing workers voted to accept the aerospace giant’s latest pay offer, ending a damaging seven-week strike.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union said striking workers could begin returning to work as early as Wednesday and as late as November 12.
Under the new contract, they will receive a 38% salary increase over the next four years.
More than 30,000 Boeing union workers went on strike on September 13, causing a sharp slowdown in production at the planemaker’s factories and deepening the company’s crisis.
The IAM union said 59% of striking workers voted in favor of the new deal, which also includes a one-off $12,000 (£9,300) bonus and changes to workers’ retirement plans.
“This is a victory. We can hold our heads high,” union leader Jon Holden said as he announced the results of the vote.
The union had previously called for a 40% pay rise, but workers rejected the company’s two previous offers.
Last month, acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su flew to Seattle to help with negotiations, a sign of how serious the White House is about a strike at one of America’s most important companies.
Boeing has been struggling to shore up its finances and end a strike that has cost the company nearly $10 billion, according to consulting firm Anderson Economic Group.
In October, its commercial aircraft business reported an operating loss of $4 billion for the three months to the end of September.
Last week, the company launched a stock offering that raised more than $20 billion.
There had been warnings that a prolonged strike could lead to a downgrade of Boeing’s credit rating, which would make its borrowing costs higher.
last month, The company said it would lay off about 17,000 employeesthe first layoff notice is expected to be issued in mid-November.
Boeing’s latest crisis erupted in January when a piece of one of its passenger jets dramatically exploded in the air.
The reputation of its space business also took a hit after its Starliner was forced to return to Earth without astronauts on board.
