EVERETT — Ahead of a highly anticipated union vote, Boeing on Thursday evening released the full details of its revised four-year contract offer to more than 16,000 engineers, scientists and technical workers represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).
The company framed the proposal as a response to what it heard after SPEEA members rejected an earlier deal in August and authorized a strike. In a media fact sheet released Thursday, Boeing said the offer now includes 34% in total wage funds over the life of the contract, with 26% of that fully guaranteed for every represented employee.
A 10% guaranteed wage increase would take effect Oct. 2 if the deal is ratified. The annual wage pools would then run 4%, 6%, 6% and 6%, each with a guaranteed minimum of 4%. Boeing said all money in those pools must be spent on SPEEA members.
The company also updated its estimates of where average pay would land. For professionals the average base salary would grow from $152,000 to $208,000, an $11,000 increase from the first offer. For technical workers, average base salary would rise from $119,000 to $163,000, $8,000 more than the initial proposal.
“We took the feedback we heard from our employees and SPEEA’s bargaining teams to deliver an offer with more value that includes guaranteed pay increases and a larger wage pool over the life of the contract,” said Ben Nimmergut, Boeing vice president and functional chief engineer for Production Engineering. “We encourage our team to learn more about our offer and vote.”
Several pieces of the package remain unchanged from the first offer: enhanced health care and retirement benefits, two additional vacation days, one new floating holiday and three bereavement days.
Voting is scheduled to run electronically from Sept. 24 through Oct. 1. SPEEA will announce the results. The current contracts expire Oct. 6.
SPEEA represents more than 16,000 Boeing employees, most of whom live in the Puget Sound region, with smaller groups in Oregon, California and Utah. The professional unit includes 12,696 engineers and scientists who support research, design, development, testing and maintenance. The technical unit includes 3,959 employees who provide analytical support.
The latest round of talks was the first full contract negotiation between Boeing and SPEEA in 14 years. Members had approved extensions of the 2013 agreements in 2016 and 2020. Formal bargaining began July 1. Union teams arrived with priorities rather than a rigid demand list: stronger and more affordable benefits, including retiree medical; more overtime, on-call and travel pay; retirement security; additional paid leave; a clearer layoff process; and more investment in career growth and training.
Members did not like the first offer enough to ratify it and on Aug. 21, professionals rejected that package with a 64.25%, 7,238 no votes to 4,027 yes. Technical-unit members rejected it by 71.87%, 2,795 to 1,094. Both units authorized a strike by wide margins — 87.82% among professionals and 89.71% among technical workers — with turnout above 92%.
A strike, if one were called after a no vote, could begin as early as Oct. 7.
Author: Mario Lotmore
