The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Boeing and its largest union restarted contract negotiations Tuesday with the help of federal mediators, days after thousands of workers rejected a previous offer and went on strike. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe says that the walkout, which began Friday, has already drastically slowed the company's production of commercial airplanes because most of the union's more than 33,000 members work in the Seattle area. If the strike lasts for several weeks, analysts estimate that Boeing, which was already in a financially precarious position before the stoppage began, could lose billions of dollars. Workers last week overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract that Boeing and union officials had negotiated, saying that it fell well short of what the union had initially sought on raises, retirement benefits and other issues. But in a message to employees Monday, Boeing's chief financial officer, Brian West, said that the company was "working in good faith" on a new deal that reflected worker feedback and allowed the company to return to normal operations. Tuesday's meeting is taking place in Seattle. The union's last strike, in 2008, lasted nearly two months.