By Dan Catchpole
SEATTLE, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Voting on Boeing’s contract offer to its largest white-collar union ends on Friday, with results expected by mid-afternoon in Seattle.
Hoping to avoid a strike by thousands of engineers and technical workers, Boeing offered terms that were better than expected, several members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) told Reuters.
However, neither of the bargaining unit councils for SPEEA’s engineers and technicians units backed the offer. The technicians unit council recommended that members reject the offer, while the engineers unit council did not meet the 60% threshold needed to give members a recommendation to accept or reject.
The tentative agreement reached with Boeing in late July was endorsed by SPEEA’s negotiating team. The engineers and technicians units negotiate collectively with Boeing, but they vote separately. The current contract expires in October.
Speaking to Wall Street analysts in July, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company “began these discussions early, because we wanted to work towards an agreement that supports our employees and their families, creates greater clarity for our business and helps us stay focused on the progress we’re making.”
A work stoppage by SPEEA members would further delay Boeing’s certification campaigns for its 737 Max 10 and 777-9, both of which are several years behind schedule.
The proposed four-year contract includes wage increases tied to inflation (capped at 3%) and an individual’s performance, as well as other metrics determined by the company, but not specified in the contract.
Several SPEEA members who have already voted to reject the offer told Reuters that capping inflation-based raises at 3% nearly guarantees that their salaries will fall behind inflation.
In 2024, Boeing commercial airplane production in the Seattle area ground to a halt when the roughly 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers went on strike for seven weeks.
(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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