Boeing is offering its staff a 25% pay bump over a four-year contract, in a bid to avoid a strike that could potentially shut down its assembly lines as early as Friday. Union leaders representing more than 30,000 employees have urged the workers to support the proposal, describing it as the best contract they had ever negotiated. Boeing workers in the Seattle and Portland region are set to vote on the deal. The aerospace giant's chief operating officer, Stephanie Pope, described the proposal as a "historic offer" adding that If ratified by union members, it would be the first full labour agreement between the firm and the unions in 16 years.