BRIDGETON, Missouri — Union members on Sunday rejected the latest contract offer from Boeing, extending a strike of some 3,200 workers that is now almost three months old.

The vote Sunday came after officials with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837 initially declined to even take up the latest offer, calling it “insulting.” The union reversed course a day later after the company agreed to remove a “return-to-work” provision allowing managers and non-union workers to temporarily perform union members’ work.

Still, the union’s bargaining committee did not take a formal position on the latest proposal.

But nearly three months into a strike that has curtailed paychecks and left union members without their company health insurance, the vote Sunday was close. The contract was rejected with just 51% voting against it, local union leaders announced Sunday to cheers inside the machinists union hall in Bridgeton.

The vote means one of the region’s largest employers will have to keep making due without a large chunk of its employee base of around 17,000 who work at area plants in north St. Louis County, St. Charles and Mascoutah. The strike comes as Boeing prepares to build the military’s next-generation fighter jet contract, the F-47, while continuing to pump out planes like the air force’s T-7 trainer and the legacy F/A-18 and F-15 fighters for the U.S. and foreign customers.

Melanie Bowen, who works in fabrication for several Boeing planes and has been with the company 11 years, noted President Donald Trump wants to see the F-47 flying before his term is over.

“If they want that to happen, they need us,” she said.

She was happy to see the latest offer rejected.

“The contract was the worst it’s been so far,” Bowen said.

She and other workers said Boeing executives, particularly Boeing Air Dominance vice president, general manager and senior St. Louis site executive Dan Gillian, have been dismissive of the importance of the work Boeing machinists do to build the military’s jets.

“The disrespect that has been shown to this membership in the words that he says is unacceptable,” Bowen said.

She and other members also noted striking workers have lost their health insurance while the work stoppage is underway, a move by Boeing management that she called “unconscionable” but acknowledged likely influenced some members to support the latest contract offer in order to regain access to health coverage.

The union’s members have already voted down three proposed contracts. The last vote, on Sept. 12, failed even after the union’s leadership and Boeing reached a tentative agreement on the deal. Workers approved a counter the next week offer that the company declined. Gillian, Boeing’s top executive in St. Louis, said Friday he was “confident” union members would approve the latest offer from the company.

IAM Union District 837 Directing Business Representative Tom Boelling declined to comment after the vote. But the machinists’ international president, Brian Bryant, issued a statement after Sunday’s results.

“Our members aren’t going to be fooled by PR spin,” Bryant said. “It’s well past time for Boeing to stop cheaping out on the workers who make its success possible and bargain a fair deal that respects their skill and sacrifice.”

Boeing issued its own statement late Sunday afternoon, saying the contract “failed by the slimmest of margins.”

“With the close result and the increased interest we’re hearing from teammates who want to cross the picket line, it’s clear many understand the value of our offer,” the company said. “We are turning our focus to executing the next phase of our contingency plan in support of our customers.”

Boeing’s latest offer would have raised average wages from $75,000 to $109,000 over five years, according to the company. The union prefers a four-year contract to get them back to the bargaining table sooner. The latest offer includes a $3,000 ratification bonus and $3,000 in Boeing stock. Another $1,000 retention bonus would be paid in the fourth year of the contract.

Workers voted down a contract with a $4,000 bonus in September and one with a $5,000 bonus in August.

The St. Louis workers argue they should get a bonus comparable to Boeing’s workers in Seattle, who received $12,000 ratification bonuses after a nearly two-month strike there last year.

Boeing’s defense unit, based in St. Louis, is a smaller part of its business than the commercial jet manufacturing operations concentrated in Washington state. And Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg’s comments in July that a strike in St. Louis was not a “material” concern and that the company would manage through it rankled many members, who note the importance of their work to the U.S. military. They also feel the company has signaled it is more concerned with its workers in Washington State.

“It’s bigger than money. It’s bigger than terms,” said Jamel Hanandeh, who voted against the contract and has been with the company 12 years, currently working on the F-15 assembly line. “When you disrespect the membership, this is what you end up with.”

Alluding to the quality problems at some of Boeing’s commercial aircraft produced in Washington, Hanandeh quipped: “You don’t see doors falling off over here.”

(Jack Suntrup and David Carson of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.)

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