The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace technical unit on Monday overwhelmingly approved the latest contract offer from Boeing, ending months of negotiations between the union and the company.

When the votes were all tallied Monday evening at SPEEA Headquarters in Tukwila, the vote came to 4,244 to accept and 654 to reject, an approval rate of 86.6 percent.

The contract they approved was the same contract the unit rejected by a narrow margin last month. The union’s professional unit approved the contract during that vote, but the technical unit rejected it.

The major sticking point was the company’s move to place all new hires into a 401K program instead of the company’s pension plan.

When negotiators picked up again between the two sides, Boeing put forth the exact same offer.

But the new contract extends the terms of the previous contract, including 5 percent annual salary increase pools, no increases to employees for medical coverage and an increase to the retirement benefit. By the end of the new agreement, SPEEA represented technical workers and engineers will have received eight straight years of 5 percent salary increase pools, with guaranteed minimum wage increases each year of the contract.

The decision to accept the contract averts a potential strike, as in February the technical unit voted to give negotiators the right to call a strike fi they saw fit.

Boeing president Ray Conner said in a statement to media that the company was pleased to hear the outcome of the vote.

“We’re pleased to have settled a contract that rewards SPEEA-represented employees for their contributions to the company’s success while maintaining a superior package of retirement and health care benefits,” Conner’s statement read.

Technical workers have been without a contract since Nov. 25. The new contract will remain in place through 2016.