Roughly 3,200 machinists at Boeing’s defense hub in the St. Louis area went on strike Monday, the first time the union has done so in nearly three decades, after they rejected the latest contract offer from the aerospace giant.

The machinists, who work in Missouri and Illinois building and maintaining F-15 and F/A-18 fighter jets and munitions, voted Sunday to reject Boeing’s offer of a four-year contract that included a 20 percent wage increase, $5,000 ratification bonus and other improvements such as better retirement benefits.

The group went on strike at midnight on Monday.

International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, which represents the employees, said any contract should reflect the workers’ skill and the critical role they play in U.S. national defe

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