EVERETT—The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) and aerospace giant Boeing officially began their contract negotiation bargaining yesterday, Wednesday, July 1.
This is the first full contract negotiation between Boeing and SPEEA in 14 years. Most recently, SPEEA-represented employees approved a contract extension in 2020.
“We’ve already found several areas of common interest with SPEEA and look forward to working toward a strong contract offer that shows the respect we have for our employees and the important work they do,” said Ben Nimmergut, Vice President and Functional Chief Engineer for Production Engineering.
Mike Berryhill, a production systems engineer in Everett who serves on SPEEA’s Negotiation Team said the union negotiators are also “optimistic about securing a fair deal for our members,” but added that it won’t be easy.
“These are going to be challenging negotiations, both for Boeing and our union,” he said.
There are over 16,000 employees currently represented by SPEEA, primarily within the Puget Sound area, with smaller groups within Oregon, California, and Utah. 12,696 of these are engineers and scientists supporting research, design, development, testing, and maintenance of Boeing products, and 3,959 offer analytical support to engineers and scientists.
Rather than present a list of contract demands, the Negotiation Teams for the two SPEEA bargaining units have prepared a list of contract priorities for the next collective bargaining agreements. These include things like stronger benefits (more affordable and accessible care, retiree medical, and improved medical and vision), increased overtime, on-call and travel, increased retirement security and company revenue sharing, additional paid leave and payout of unused leave with no forfeitures, a clearer process to layoffs, and increased investment in career growth, training, and mentorship.
According to a Boeing spokesperson, the company already chooses to invest heavily in its engineers at all its sites and in the Puget Sound, indicative by opening a fourth 737 MAX line in Everett, and “retaining engineering workforce at a high rate.”
On average, Boeing pays 87% of the total cost of medical and dental coverage for its SPEEA-represented employees. Some also have access to plans with $0 paycheck contributions.
Boeing also provides access to physical, mental and financial well-being programs, its 401(k) plan offers the most company dollars of any Puget Sound aerospace or tech company and is ranked as one of the best in the nation, Nimmergut said.
“We’re always looking for new ways to enhance our benefits and look forward to this discussion,” said Nimmergut. “On time to work and time to live. We’re committed to providing a quality work/life balance and we want to hear SPEEA’s ideas on flexible work. As we focus on meeting our customer commitments, there’s no substitute for face-to-face collaboration on site. But when our teammates need flexibility, we want our managers to work with you to do what’s right for you and the team.”
Since 2020, Boeing has paid $91 million in tuition and flight incentive benefits for SPEEA represented employees through its Learning Together Program, with more than 1,000 degrees earned.
73% of SPEEA-represented employees have taken a course through the Ed Wells Partnership over the past three years.
During recent discussions, SPEEA has expressed that fertility benefits were important to their contract, so Boeing also committed to providing fertility benefits effective January 1, 2027 – a full year earlier than if they had waited to bargain this at the table.
However, from SPEEA’s perspective, Mike Berryhill said the union has “a large cadre of frustrated experienced professionals, who for decades warned their managers that if Boeing continued down the path it was on, it would lead to major problems. Now, after the problems have in fact become obvious, Boeing is going back to those same union members they ignored for all those years and asking them to solve all the problems they’d been warned about.”
“We also represent a large group of young professionals, who have joined Boeing in recent years, thinking they were hiring into a cutting-edge company,” Berryhill continued. “They then found out about the culture of putting shareholders above quality and safety, and they’ve become disillusioned, even embarrassed, about the company they work for. The challenge for us as a union is to make sure that both groups are represented and heard at the bargaining table.”
On the other hand, “the challenge for Boeing is going to be to work with us in a constructive manner to find ways to address the issues for these groups,” Berryhill added. “Boeing won’t achieve any of its goals – increasing production rates, certifying new aircraft or eventually bringing a new jet to market – without a strong and motivated engineering and technical community, represented by SPEEA.”
The SPEEA teams have been meeting internally since March to review data from four member surveys in 2025. The teams have held three informal meetings with Boeing’s negotiators, including one on June 18 where they pressed Boeing executives whether or not they were truly committed to building a future in the northwest.
Boeing launched a website on July 1 that will highlight the negotiations in real time. That website can be found here: www.boeing.com/SPEEA
Author: Kienan Briscoe
