Boeing Faces Key Union Vote With Defense Turnaround at Stake

Boeing Co.’s newfound labor peace will be put to the test on Sunday as about 3,200 factory workers in the St. Louis area vote on a contract offer that would boost their wages by 20% over four years.

The aerospace manufacturer is seeking to avoid a labor standoff in its military aviation hub almost nine months after a strike by a Seattle-based Machinists union crippled manufacturing at its commercial jet factories for weeks.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 837, which represents Boeing workers in Missouri and Illinois, doesn’t have a deeply-felt grudge to fire up ...