Unionized factory workers at Boeing voted Monday to accept a contract offer and end their 53-day-long strike, which lasted more than seven weeks and shut down production of most Boeing passenger planes.

The vote to ratify the contract on the eve of a national Election Day clears the way for a major U.S. manufacturer and government contractor to resume airplane production. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had previously voted twice to reject Boeing’s offer.

In its latest contract proposal, Boeing offered pay raises of 38% over four years plus ratification and productivity bonuses. IAM District 751, which represents Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed the proposal, which is slightly more generous than one the machinists voted down nearly two weeks ago.

Union officials said they thought they have gotten all they could though negotiations and a strike, and that if the current proposal had been rejected, future offers from Boeing might be worse.

Boeing says average annual pay for machinists is $75,608 and would rise to $119,309 in four years under the current offer.

Pensions were a key issue for workers who rejected the company’s previous offers in September and October. In its new offer, Boeing did not meet their demand to restore a pension plan that was frozen nearly a decade ago.

With ratification, the workers would return to work by Nov. 12, according to the union.

The strike began Sept. 13 with an overwhelming 94.6% rejection of Boeing’s offer to raise pay by 25% over four years — far less than the union’s original demand for 40% wage increases over three years.

Machinists voted down another offer — 35% raises over four years, and still no revival of pensions — on Oct. 23, the same day that Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion. However, the offer received 36% support, up from 5% for the mid-September proposal, making Boeing leaders believe they were close to a deal.

— Associated Press

China protests EU’s electric vehicle tariffs

China has moved forward with a complaint at the World Trade Organization that alleges the European Union has improperly set anti-subsidy tariffs on new Chinese-made electric vehicles.

The Chinese diplomatic mission to the WTO said Monday it “strongly opposes” the measures and insisted its move was designed to protect the EV industry and support a global transition toward greener technologies.

The European bloc announced last month it was imposing import duties of up to 35% on electric vehicles from China, alleging the Chinese exports were unfairly undercutting EU industry prices. The duties are set to remain in force for five years, unless an amicable deal can be struck.

China alleged that the EU move amounted to “an abuse of trade remedies” that violates WTO rules, and amounted to “protectionist” measures, according to the mission’s statement.

N.Y. Times reaches 11 million subscribers

The New York Times added roughly 260,000 paid digital subscribers in the third quarter of the year, the company said on Monday, crossing the threshold of 11 million total subscribers for the first time.

The company’s adjusted operating profit for the quarter, which ran from July through September, rose 16.1% to $104.2 million, from $89.8 million a year before. Overall revenue increased 7% to $640.2 million, compared with the same period in 2023.

The Times has a stated goal of reaching 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. It had 11.09 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, 10.47 million of which were to digital products only, not the print newspaper.

— From news services