Boeing workers vote on whether to strike, shut down aircraft production

Boeing waited to learn Thursday whether 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, most of them in the Seattle area, are going on strike and shutting down production of the company's best-selling planes.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers were voting on whether to approve a contract offer that includes 25% pay raises over four years. If the factory workers reject the contract and two-thirds of them vote to strike, a work stoppage would begin Friday at 12:01 a.m. PDT.

A walkout would not cause flight cancellations or directly affect airline passengers, but it would be another blow to Boeing's reputation and finances in a year marked by problems in its airplane, defense and space operations.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg made a last-ditch effort to avert a strike, telling machinists Wednesday that no one wins in a walkout.

For Boeing, it is no secret that our business is in a difficult period, in part due to our own mistakes in the past, he said. Working ...