ST. LOUIS — The Boeing Co. on Thursday said it would hire permanent replacements for workers who have been on strike for a month.

Dan Gillian, vice president of air dominance for Boeing, said in a letter to employees that the company started the process on Thursday.

“This will ensure we’re properly staffed to keep supporting our customers,” Gillian wrote.

Gillian said jobs were being posted, and that a job fair will be held Sept. 16.

The union representing about 3,200 local Boeing workers fired back in a statement.

“Boeing — let’s get back to the negotiating table,” Brian Bryant, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said in a statement. “Let’s get real about the concerns of our members and your employees.”

Boeing’s announcement Thursday followed a media briefing Wednesday in which Gillian said he was willing to entertain “minor” changes to the company’s contract offer.

During the call, Gillian said factory performance had slowed in some areas.

Bryant blasted Boeing for the move.

“Instead of going back to the negotiating table, Boeing decided to instead hold a media event to say they are doing nothing to end a nearly five-week strike that they admitted is now having an effect on production for our military,” Bryant said Thursday.

“Now, Boeing is doubling down on its mismanagement by saying it plans to hire replacement workers to build military aircraft and equipment, instead of negotiating with their dedicated, generational and skilled workforce,” he said.

Boeing employees voted down a contract offer on Aug. 3 that would’ve given a 20% general wage increase over four years to employees who have not reached the top of the pay scale.

Average wages would rise from $75,000 a year to $102,600 a year under the plan, according to the company.

When union members rejected the last contract, a $5,000 ratification bonus was taken off the table.

Bryant said Thursday that workers were offended. He said Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest negotiated a $12,000 bonus last year.

Non-union workers in South Carolina received the same bonus, Bryant said.

“It’s a slap in the face to not offer the same to our hard-working, dedicated IAM District 837 membership in the St. Louis area,” he said.

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