Boeing factory workers voted to reject a contract offer and continue a more than five-week strike

Boeing factory workers voted to reject a contract offer and continue a more than five-week strike on October 23 in a blow to new CEO Kelly Ortberg's plan to shore up the finances of the struggling plane-maker.

The vote was 64% in opposition to the deal, which offered a 35% rise in wages over four years, in a major setback for Ortberg who took the top job in August on a pledge to work more closely with factory workers than his predecessors.

The union has been seeking a 40% pay rise and the return of the defined-benefit pension.

Boeing factory workers were also venting frustration after a decade when their wages have lagged inflation while the plane-maker spent tens of billions of dollars on share buybacks and paid out record executive bonuses.

Boeing said it did not have an immediate comment on the vote. More than 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.

Time is running out for Boeing, historically the largest U.S. exporter, and its biggest union to reach a deal before the presidential election on Nov. 5.

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