St. Louis-area Boeing machinists returned to work this week after reaching a new contract agreement with the company.

The settlement of the strike came during the 15th week of a bitter fight over pay and benefits for members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 union. The 68% to 32% vote was on the company’s fifth contract proposal and was the sixth vote overall since the strike began Aug. 4.

Labor experts said time caught up to the strikers. After more than three months of missing paychecks and losing health insurance, members settled for less than the union proposed.

Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio

“Really I think the members just realized that no matter how long we were going to be out on strike, we really weren’t going to get

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