The Boeing statement announcing the agreement did not provide details of the union vote. A simple majority of the striking members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union was all that was needed to ratify the deal.

The workers had walked off the job Sept. 6, halting all commercial-aircraft production. After talks broke down – resulting in the two sides not meeting for weeks – contract negotiations resumed Oct. 23. The Chicago-based company and the IAM reached a tentative agreement on Oct. 27.

It was the longest strike in 13 years: The union walked out for 28 days in 2005 and 69 days in 1995.

Both sides claimed victory this time around. The union said that it “won the battle and made some significant gains,” while Boeing claimed it had “retained the flexibility necessary” to manage its business, Reuters reported.
Union workers were to return to work for the third shift yesterday.

The production walked off the job because of a dispute over contract provisions related to health-care benefits and job security. The machinists had initially wanted a 13% pay raise over three years and to rewrite certain language in the contract relating to outsourcing. The agreement reached Monday gives workers a 15% raise over the four-year life of the contract and gives the union more scope for challenging Boeing’s use of outside contractors. The deal also grants lump-sum payouts totaling at least $8,000 per employee over the four years. It also immediately lifts pension payments.

The pact, longer than ones Boeing previously signed with the IAM, “addresses the union’s job-security issues while enabling Boeing to retain the flexibility needed to run the business,” Scott Carson, president and chief executive of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes division, said in a statement.

Boeing now must turn to its labor negotiations with its engineers and technical workers. Boeing’s current contract with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace expires Dec. 1, MarketWatch.com reported.

Boeing originally predicted the strike would last about a month, Money Morning reported. Back in mid-September, Tom Buffenbarger, the union’s national leader, told The Seattle Times that if the strike costs Boeing $100 million a day in lost sales – as many Wall Street analysts estimated – it would take strikers one month and one week to drain Boeing’s $10 billion cash reserve.

The union represents about 25,000 Boeing production workers in and around Seattle, another 1,500 in Gresham, Ore., and 750 in Wichita, Kan, TV station KXMB in Bismark, N.D. reported.

Boeing’s shares jumped $1.72 each, or 3.39%, to close at $52.42 Friday. On Wednesday, when the union announced it would hold the ratification vote Saturday, the shares soared $6.55 each, or 15.5%, to close at $48.91. The company’s shares still are down 47% from their 12-month high of $98.71.

Source: Boeing Union Workers Ratify Four-Year Pact, Ending Eight-Week Strike

Boeing’s shares soared $6.55 each, or 15.5%, to close at $48.91. They are still down 50% from their 12-month high of $98.71 and are down 45% for the year.

It was the longest strike in 13 years: The union walked out for 28 days in 2005 and 69 days in 1995.

Both sides claimed victory this time around.The union said that it “won the battle and made some significant gains,” while Boeing claimed it had “retained the flexibility necessary” to manage its business, Reuters reported.

Saturday will be the 57th day of the walkout by unionized machinist workers, who have shut down Boeing’s commercial-jetliner-assembly business since they left their jobs on Sept. 6., in a dispute over contract provisions related to health-care benefits and job security.

The machinists had initially wanted a 13% pay raise over three years and to rewrite certain language in the contract relating to outsourcing. The agreement reached Monday gives workers a 15% raise over the four-year life of the contract and gives the union more scope for challenging Boeing’s use of outside contractors.

Boeing originally predicted the strike would last about a month, Money Morning reported. Back in mid-September, Tom Buffenbarger, the union’s national leader, told The Seattle Times that if the strike costs Boeing $100 million a day in lost sales – as many Wall Street analysts estimated – it would take strikers one month and one week to drain Boeing’s $10 billion cash reserve.

The union represents about 25,000 Boeing production workers in and around Seattle, another 1,500 in Gresham, Ore., and 750 in Wichita, Kan, TV station KXMB in Bismark, N.D. reported.

Source: Striking Machinists to Vote Saturday on Deal To End Boeing Walkout – Shares Soar

“The combination of the weak U.S. economy and a strengthening dollar continues to put downward pressure on oil,” said James Williams, of WTRG Economics.

Supply worries have eased after the re-start of a major Scottish refinery following resolution of a two-day strike on Tuesday. And Exxon said that upstream affiliates in Nigeria confirmed they’re in the process of production start-up following resumption of services by the senior staff workers union.