LOS ANGELES — Boeing Co. and C-17 assembly workers in Long Beach have reached a tentative labor agreement that could end a strike that has shut down Southern California’s last remaining major airplane factory for nearly a month.
The Chicago-based aerospace company and the United Auto Workers Local 148, representing 1,700 workers at the military aircraft factory, struck the deal late Friday after two days of talks arranged by a federal mediator.
The union’s rank-and-file are scheduled to vote on the proposed deal on Wednesday. If approved, production could resume as early as the next day, said Local 148 President Stan Klemchuk.
“Boeing put together a good deal here,” Klemchuk said. “One thing about negotiations: You don’t get everything you want. But we’re happy with what was offered.”
The assembly line workers walked off their jobs May 11, after rejecting a labor contract they said imposed too many concessions, including a lower company contribution for pensions and higher medical copayments.
Under the new proposed five-year contract, workers would not get a raise this year, but would get a $4,000 lump sum payout. They would get a 3 percent raise each year over the remaining life of the contract. In addition, Boeing would increase its pension contribution by $2 to $81 a month for every year of service.
Also, employees would pay 13 percent of their medical costs in an HMO plan, down from 15 percent under the previous contract offer.
“We think both sides had to give a little to reach this tentative agreement,” said Cindy Anderson, a Boeing spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, Boeing is facing the prospect of closing the plant soon because of slowing orders for the massive, four-engine military cargo plane.
Although the plane has been a workhorse for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, orders have been slowing. With no additional orders, the sprawling factory, adjacent to Long Beach Airport, could close in 2012.
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