Raytheon, Union in Pact on Missile Work

Raytheon Co., the world’s third-largest aerospace and defense company, averted a strike by reaching a labor contract with workers who produce the company’s Patriot missile. Raytheon said it will increase wages 5% in the first year of the two-year contract with 3,800 employees represented by Local 1505 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Wages increase 4% in the second year of the contract, which also requires workers to pay more for health-care benefits. The contract replaced a three-year agreement that expired at midnight Saturday and under which workers received no pay increase. The talks occurred as Raytheon, based in Lexington, Mass., cut 261 manufacturing jobs at a Massachusetts plant due to a slowdown in orders for its Patriot and Hawk missiles.