By Daniel Catchpole, Allison Lampert and Matt McKnight
SEATTLE (Reuters) -Boeing factory workers voted on Wednesday on a new contract proposal that could end a more than five-week strike, in a crucial moment for the troubled planemaker as it wrestles with a deepening financial crisis.
Some analysts have questioned whether the proposed contract will muster enough support to pass, with comments on social media and from workers outside voting stations casting doubt on a deal.
"As of right now, I think we have the upper hand on Boeing (NYSE:BA) and it's good to just keep looking for something better," said Manuel Munoz, a 20-year-old mechanic.
Over 30,000 machinists downed tools in Boeing's West Coast factories on Sept. 13, halting production of the best-selling 737 MAX and 767 and 777 wide-body programs.
Since then, Boeing and the leadership of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union have been locked in often acrimonious negotiations, with both sides accusing the other of torpedoing talks.
Workers lined up to cast ballots near the 737 MAX production facility in Renton, Washington before the vote started at 8 a.m. PDT (1500 GMT). The ballot, which closes at 5 p.m., will offer workers the choice to either accept or reject the deal with a simple 50%-plus-one majority needed to decide the result. If it passes, the strike ends.
Boeing said during its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday that it expects to burn cash in 2025, even as CEO Kelly Ortberg warned there was no quick fix for the ailing planemaker.
Ratings agencies have said they could downgrade Boeing's mounting debt to "junk" status if the strike drags on.
The latest offer includes a 35% pay hike over four years, a $7,000 ratification bonus, a reinstated incentive plan and enhanced contributions to workers' 401(k) retirement plans.
The wage increase and ratification bonus are higher than in a previous offer that was rejected by 95% of workers in a vote last month. But the salary hikes fall short of a 40% pay rise over four years and the restoration of the defined-benefit pension lost in 2014 demanded by the union.
Close to 40% of the striking workers had the old pension before their benefits under that scheme were frozen in the deal struck a decade ago, the union said.
'WE HAVE THE UPPER HAND'
Reuters spoke to 20 striking factory workers in the Seattle area either before or after they cast ballots. Three said they would accept the deal, 14 said they would reject the proposal and three were undecided.
Many workers are still angry about the last set of negotiations in 2014 when Boeing used the threat of moving production of the new version of the 777 out of the region to push through a deal that ended traditional pensions.
Reuters has spoken to dozens of factory workers in the last week who said they did not think Boeing would ever restore the defined-benefit pension, but they saw it as their most potent weapon in negotiations.
"We're going to get what we want this time. We have better legs to stand on this time than Boeing," said Donovan Evans, 30, who works in the 767 jet factory outside Seattle. Evans, who said he doesn't expect the pension to come back, voted to reject the deal and is holding out for a 40% raise.
Demonstrators outside a voting station in Everett, home to the huge 777 assembly line, urged fellow workers to reject the latest deal, holding up placards embossed with: "No pension, No planes".
Erik Vera, a 24-year-old electrician on the 737 program, said he was "ready to get back to work" but was still going to reject the contract offer because he could see the pension mattered to his colleagues.
"If we don't stand together, what do we stand for?" Vera said.
Boeing's first strike in 16 years is costing the company around $100 million in daily revenue, analysts say. It is also sending shockwaves through the aerospace supply chain, where companies fear widespread job losses if the current contract is rejected.
"You're actually holding the lives of people like us in your hands," said Andrew Flores, president of California-based family-run supplier Independent Forge Co., which has already laid off a handful of its 26 employees due to the strike.