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Boeing union rejects contract, authorizes strike
Boeing engineers and technicians, represented by the union SPEEA, has rejected its offer from the aerospace giant and could go on strike in October.
SEATTLE - Unionized engineers and technical workers have rejected Boeing's latest contract offer and voted to authorize a potential strike that could begin in October.
Boeing employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) voted down two proposed collective bargaining agreements on Friday. SPEEA represents 17,000 engineers and technicians across the country, including many in western Washington.
By the numbers:
Union members reject Boeing contract offer
About 64% of members voted to reject the contracts, pushing for better improvements, while nearly 88% voted yes to strike. Overall, 92% of eligible members participated in the vote.
The offer was sent to the union several weeks ago and featured wage increases of nearly 30% over the next four years, along with three extra days of paid leave, lower limits on mandatory overtime, increased virtual work opportunities, twice-annual executive meetings on work deployment and a joint committee on artificial intelligence.
Despite unanimous endorsement from the union's negotiation team, leaders on SPEEA's technical unit recommended rejection, while the professional unit fell short of the required 60% supermajority to endorse.
FILE - A sign on the exterior of Boeing's airplane production facility is shown.
What they're saying:
"Most of this is based on distrust in leadership," said Kevin Boyd, a production engineer for the technical unit. "That is a lot of different things in the contract we addressed. That's something we need to work on. We need to continue having that conversation with Boeing and we hope Boeing is ready to get back to the table and continue to build that foundation going forward."
"We're hoping to rebuild the relationship Boeing's historically had with its engineers union," added Katheryn Durkee, a senior materials and process engineer. "We are the foundation of the products that Boeing sells. We're ready to do the work if Boeing wants to do the work with us."
Boeing response
Boeing has since released a statement, saying it is disappointed with the vote results and is immediately executing its strike contingency plan:
"We gave a strong contract offer to position our employees among the market leaders in pay and benefits in the Pacific Northwest. We’re disappointed our engineers and technical workforce voted no on our offer. As a result, we are now implementing our strike contingency plan and diverting the dollars we had wanted to invest in our SPEEA-represented team to prepare for a potential strike.
We have no choice but to implement our contingency plan. We have a responsibility to the rest of our workforce and our customers to build on our progress over the last two years and maintain our momentum.
No further talks with SPEEA are scheduled. The earliest a strike could occur is Oct. 7."
What's next:
SPEEA negotiators say they will contact the bargaining unit to discuss what changes need to be made to the contract offer. Current contracts are set expire on Oct. 6, meaning a strike could occur on Oct. 7 if an agreement is not met.
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The Source: Information in this story came from a press release from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, a statement from Boeing, and FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.