SPEEA, Boeing reach tentative contract extension

The following is from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace/IFPTE 2001 (SPEEA):

SEATTLE (Jan. 14, 2016) — More than 20,000 engineers and technical workers at The Boeing Co. will soon receive ballots to vote on six-year contract extensions that include market-leading wages, continued retirement benefit growth, a choice of comprehensive medical plans and enhanced job security language.

Negotiated and unanimously recommended by the SPEEA Executive Board, the union’s Professional and Technical Bargaining Unit Councils authorized a vote of members during a special meeting Jan. 13.

Ballot packages will be sent to members next week. Votes will be counted at SPEEA headquarters in Tukwila on Feb. 10. If ratified by members, the extensions take effect Feb. 11 and continue through Oct. 6, 2022.

SPEEA leaders said the contract offers address members’ top priorities as outlined in a recent member survey – retirement, health care, salary growth and job security.

“These negotiations were possible because SPEEA and Boeing decided not to let our areas of disagreement prevent us from making progress on items where we do agree,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “These contract extensions are the result of a lot of hard work and good will.  Hopefully, this gives us a template for the future.”

A major improvement contained in these contracts relates to helping SPEEA members affected by Boeing moving work. Management is committing to use exhaustive efforts to place individuals impacted by such a move.  In the unlikely event these placement efforts fail, individuals laid off due to the movement of work will receive a minimum of 26 to a maximum of 60 weeks of pay (2 weeks per year of service) and six months of medical and dental coverage. This protection, along with the doubling of the existing voluntary layoff benefits, would take effect immediately after ratification.

While the majority of workers are at Boeing facilities in the Puget Sound region, the contract offers also cover workers in Oregon, Utah, California and Florida.

Negotiations grew from discussions during regular meetings between the union and Boeing in recent months. With both sides receptive to avoiding the sometimes confrontational atmosphere around contract talks, the SPEEA member-elected Executive Board began formal talks with Boeing after the holiday break. The Executive Board includes members from both the Professional and Technical bargaining units. Several of the elected officials served on previous SPEEA contract negotiation teams.

A local of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), SPEEA represents more than 23,000 engineers, technical workers, pilots and other aerospace professionals in Washington, Kansas, Oregon, Utah, California and Florida. Learn more here.