Boeing is making a “best and final offer” to striking union workers

Boeing said Monday it has made its “best and final offer” to striking union autos that includes higher raises and bigger bonuses than a proposed contract that was overwhelmingly rejected.

The company said the offer included 30 percent pay increases over four years, up from the 25 percent increases rejected.

The new offer — and labeling it a final one — demonstrates Boeing’s eagerness to end a strike by about 33,000 machinists that began on Sept. 13. The company last week introduced furloughs for non-union employees to cut costs during the strike.

Strikers face their own financial pressure to return to work. They received their last paychecks last week and will lose their company-provided health insurance at the end of the month, according to Boeing.

The company said its new offer is contingent on the contract being ratified by members of the International Association of Machinists and Aeronautical Workers by late Friday night, when the strike will be just over two weeks old.

The union, which represents workers at factories that assemble some of the company’s best-selling planes, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Boeing’s latest offer includes upfront salary increases of 12 percent plus three annual raises of 6 percent each.

It would double the size of the ratification bonuses to $6,000. It would also keep annual productivity-based bonuses. In the rejected contract, Boeing sought to replace those payments with new contributions to pension accounts.

Boeing said the average annual salary for machinists will increase from $75,608 now to $111,155 at the end of the four-year contract.

The new offer would not restore a traditional pension plan that Boeing eliminated about a decade ago. Striking workers cited wages and pensions as reasons they voted 94.6% against the company’s previous offer.

Boeing also renewed its promise to build its next new airliner in the Seattle area — if that project gets underway within the next four years. That was a key provision for union leaders, who recommended adopting the original contract offer, but one that seemed less compelling to rank-and-file members.

The strike is likely already starting to reduce Boeing’s ability to generate cash. The company receives much of the cash when it delivers new planes, but the strike has halted production of the 737, 777 and 767. Work on the 787 continues with nonunion workers in South Carolina.

On Friday, Boeing began requiring thousands of managers and non-union employees to take a week off without pay every four weeks under temporary furloughs. It also announced a hiring freeze, reduced business travel and cut spending with suppliers.

The money-saving measures are expected to last as long as the strike continues.