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Boeing could have avoided another crisis with a 25% wage increase.

Boeing on Sunday agreed to a historic labor agreement with its unionized workers, averting a potentially catastrophic strike.

The tentative agreement for the next four-year contract, which must still be ratified by workers in a vote on Thursday, guarantees unionized Boeing employees in the Pacific Northwest a 25 percent across-the-board pay increase over the life of the contract and a commitment to the company’s plane will be built in the region.

If approved by Boeing’s roughly 32,000 workers, the deal will avert a work stoppage that would have hurt the company as it continues to grapple with a string of bad press and poor stock performance.

In January, a plug on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet came off mid-flight, causing a window to explode, depressurizing the cabin and forcing an emergency landing. Safety inspectors later found numerous loose screws in Alaskan Airlines’ Boeing fleet.

Then in June, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft suffered propellant problems and helium leaks during its final test flight, leaving two NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station.

Wait, there’s more: The company agreed in July to plead guilty to a fraud-conspiracy charge two accidents 737 Max in 2018 and 2019, 346 people died. The plea threatens government contracts, which account for more than a third of the company’s annual revenue.

Last week, the Seattle Times reported that the company has yet to reach 2019 hiring levels after hemorrhaging more than 21 percent of its workforce between 2019 and 2020.

The company’s share price has fallen more than 37% this year.

While the new labor contract represents a significant expense, it prevents the potential additional impacts to Boeing’s stock price that would have come with a work stoppage.

When Business Insider reached out for comment about the contract, a Boeing spokesperson pointed to a recent statement made to employees by Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stephanie Pope.

“The contract offer offers the largest overall pay increase ever, a lower share of medical costs to make health care more affordable, greater company contributions to your retirement and improvements for a better work-life balance ,” Pope said in the statement.

Representatives of IAM Districts 751 and W24, the union affiliates that represent Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

The union, in a statement released Sunday, called the deal “the best contract we’ve negotiated in our history.”

“Financially, the company is in a difficult position due to many self-inflicted missteps. It is the IAM members who will get this company back on track,” the union statement said. “As has been said many times, there is no Boeing without IAM. Ultimately, we love this company and couldn’t be more proud of the jobs we do or the products we build. What we do defines who we are – these craft. It’s our livelihood When an airplane leaves the factory, it’s our reputation that’s at stake. This proposal helps keep us alive.

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