Boeing workers will vote to end a strike in a crucial week for the plane maker

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Members of Boeing's largest labor union will vote on Wednesday to end a costly strike that has crippled production for more than a month, as part of what is shaping up to be a critical week for the embattled US planemaker.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents 33,000 Boeing workers, said Saturday it had received a “negotiated proposal” from the company that “merits your consideration.”

Members will vote on whether to ratify the deal and end the strike on Wednesday, the day Boeing reports third-quarter results.

Although Boeing has already warned that it will book about $5 billion in pre-tax charges for the period, this is the first time that Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg will address analysts and investors in August with orders to turn around aerospace and space. Defense giants

In addition to the warning, Ortberg said last week that the company would cut 17,000 jobs and delay the first delivery of its 777X jet in an effort to stem the losses.

Ortberg has indicated that Boeing needs a major reboot, telling employees that “tough decisions need to be made to restore our company”.

“We need to make structural changes to ensure we can remain competitive in the long term and deliver for our customers,” Ortberg wrote in a note to employees last week.

He warned that Boeing needs to focus its resources “on performing and innovating in the areas where we are, rather than spreading ourselves among many efforts that can often lead to underperformance and underinvestment”.

Analysts said Ortberg will review all of Boeing's operations. Speculation has focused particularly on the future of parts of its space operations, including satellite launches, as well as the Starliner space capsule and a joint venture launch business with Lockheed Martin.

Resolving the strike this week would be a big boost for Ortburg. Analysts at Bank of America estimate that the stoppage is costing Boeing $50 million a day. The company last week announced plans to raise up to $25 billion in new capital.

Union members walked out of Washington state plants nearly five weeks ago in a dispute over pay and benefits, halting production of Boeing's best-selling 737 Max plane, as well as compounding financial woes on its 767 and 777 jets.

US regulators had already forced the company to cut production of the 737 to improve quality control after a door panel blew off one of its planes during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Its supplier Spirit Aerosystems said Friday it will lay off 700 workers employed in the 767 and 777 programs starting at the end of the month. The company said it ran out of storage after building inventory.

In July, Boeing pleaded guilty to misleading US regulators about a flight control system that caused two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019.

The IAM's negotiating committee said in a statement Saturday that the new deal includes a 35 percent wage increase over four years and was brokered with the help of acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Sue.

Employees will also receive a one-time $7,000 bonus and increased contributions to their retirement savings accounts.

The revised offer is more than the 30 percent Boeing offered last month but does not reinstate Boeing's defined benefit pension plan, seen as a sticking point by some union members who resent past pay increases when executives were rewarded handsomely.

Temporary contracts do not guarantee that workers will agree. Strike action does not require a new vote as members are already on strike.

In a statement, IAM leaders John Holden and Brandon Bryant said the deal was “a testament to the determination and dedication of frontline workers on strike”.

But, they added, “workers will ultimately decide whether this particular proposal is sufficient to meet their very legitimate needs and goals for respect and fairness at Boeing.”