*

IAM union members vote 90% to approve offer proposed by

union

*

Boeing ( BA ) management refused to consider union-proposed

contract

*

Union seeks larger bonus, retirement contributions, wage

hikes

(Adds IAM's submission of proposal to Boeing ( BA ), paragraph 4)

By Dan Catchpole

Sept 19 (Reuters) - Striking workers at Boeing Defense

voted 90% to approve a four-year contract proposal from

union leadership that management has already refused to

consider, the International Association of Machinists and

Aerospace Workers (IAM) announced on Friday.

IAM leadership said Boeing ( BA ) can end the 46-day-long strike

that has slowed production of military aircraft by accepting the

offer. The union sent it to management even though Boeing ( BA )

leadership preemptively dismissed it as a "publicity stunt."

"Our members have spoken loudly - we are ready to return to

work once Boeing ( BA ) accepts this agreement," IAM District 837

President Tom Boelling said in a statement. "It's up to the

company to get our members back to what they do best: building

world-class aircraft for our nation's defense."

"It's unfortunate that union leadership led its members to

vote on something that isn't real," Boeing Defense Vice

President Dan Gillian said in a statement.

He defended Boeing's ( BA ) previous offer, which included a 20%

general wage increase and more vacation time. He has previously

said Boeing ( BA ) will not consider any terms that significantly

increase the cost beyond that offer.

The union proposal that members approved would cost Boeing ( BA )

an estimated $40 million per year on average, up from $30

million for the company's offer, according to the IAM.

The company has said it would hire replacement workers to

assemble munitions, fighters and other military aircraft in the

St. Louis area. Boeing ( BA ) has used non-union workers to dampen the

strike's effects on production, but company leadership has

acknowledged that it has slowed work on several programs.

The IAM's proposed offer builds on proposals from Boeing

Defense, adding a larger ratification bonus than management

offered, heftier company contributions to the retirement plan

and steeper wage increases for workers at the hourly wage

ceiling. The union proposal would match the retirement

contributions and bonus won last year by other unionized

machinists at Boeing ( BA ).

The strike began August 4, after union members

overwhelmingly rejected Boeing's ( BA ) second contract offer. Union

officials said they unilaterally drafted their proposal because

the company has not been willing to resume talks since

the roughly 3,200 members of IAM District 837 voted 57% to

reject Boeing's ( BA ) latest offer on September 12.

The tactic of a union unilaterally proposing a contract is

unusual, but the IAM has successfully used it to end a strike

before, IAM official Jonathan Battaglia told Reuters.

Several U.S. Congress members have urged Boeing ( BA ) to resume

talks, including in a letter Wednesday from the Congressional

Labor Caucus's five Democratic co-chairs.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, made

comments to Missourinet slamming Boeing ( BA ) executives, saying they

have been collecting big paychecks while short-changing the

people making the airplanes.

"I mean, these people have strip mined that company," Hawley

said, according to Missourinet. "The C-Suite is doing great over

at Boeing ( BA ). Their workers are the ones who've been getting the

shaft."

Hawley said "management here needs to suck it up and get

this thing over with."

In July, Boeing ( BA ) CEO Kelly Ortberg said a strike by District

837 would have much smaller financial impacts than a 53-day-long

strike last year by the 33,000 members of IAM District 751, who

make most of Boeing's ( BA ) commercial airplanes in Washington and

Oregon.

"We'll manage through this," Ortberg said during

a conference call with Wall Street analysts at the time.

Boeing ( BA ) has invested billions of dollars to expand

manufacturing facilities and engineering capabilities in the St.

Louis area for the new U.S. Air Force fighter jet, the F-47. It

won the contract this year. The company is also competing for

the U.S. Navy's new F/A-XX fighter.