Boeing strike ends as workers accept new contract

SEATTLE, Nov 6 (Reuters): Boeing's US West Coast factory workers accepted a new contract offer on Monday, ending a bitter seven-week strike that halted most jet production and deepened a financial crisis at the troubled planemaker.

The union said members voted 59% in favour of the new contract, which includes a 38% pay rise over four years, easing pressure on new CEO Kelly Ortberg after two previous offers were voted down in recent weeks.

"This is a victory. We can hold our heads high," Jon Holden the union's lead negotiator, told members after the results were announced. "Now it's our job to get back to work."

The end of the first strike in 16 years by Boeing's largest union provides welcome relief for a company that has lurched from one setback to the next since a door panel blew off a near-new 737 MAX plane in mid-air in January. In a message to Boeing employees after the vote, Ortberg said he was pleased the union had ratified a deal.

"While the past few months have been difficult for all of us, we are all part of the same team," he said. "There is much work ahead to return to the excellence that made Boeing an iconic company."