Strike to end; time to build airplanes

THE Boeing strike, it seems, will soon be over. This is very good news.

The tentative deal between Boeing and the Aerospace Machinists says much about the concerns of an older work force. The union has given up incentive pay. It has also given up a general pay increase of 2.5 percent in the third year. Apart from an inflation adjuster and 12 cents an hour, negotiators for the state's largest private-sector union agreed to a three-year contract with cash bonuses but no general wage increases. What they wanted instead were pensions further improved and medical benefits insulated from cost pressures. Those are worth a lot, and they got them. At the new level of $70 a month for each year of service, a Boeing worker with 25 years' service would have a basic pension benefit of $1,750 per month. This is in addition to retiree medical benefits, Medicare and Social Security.

For the union, this is a more favorable year than 2002, when the membership was reluctant to strike in the wake of the worst aerospace recession in 30 years. This time, Boeing had increasing orders, revenues, profits and $5 billion in cash in its pocket.

The union now celebrates, as it should. On Wall Street, investors celebrated, too. Yesterday morning, Boeing stock opened up.

The region can say a quiet thanks. It's time to build airplanes.