SEATTLE — Negotiators from Boeing and its largest white-collar union plan to meet Aug. 31 to resume contract discussions, a spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees Association said late last week.
SPEEA’s roughly 17,000 members overwhelmingly rejected Boeing’s contract offer earlier this month.
Union members, which include engineers and technical workers, said in a survey by SPEEA last week that they want larger and immediate guaranteed wage increases from Boeing.
The second priority, according to survey results shared by SPEEA, is more money for annual performance-based raises. Better annual cost-of-living adjustments were the third-highest priority, according to the nearly 13,000 union members who took the survey.
The planemaker posted contractor jobs last Tuesday, apparently in preparation for a strike after the current contract expires on Oct. 6.
SPEEA members perform critical work in Boeing’s push to certify its 737 Max 10 and 777-9, both of which are several years behind schedule. A work stoppage would further delay the two aircraft from entering service with airlines waiting for delivery.
SPEEA said Aug. 26 that it was “hopeful” that the planemaker and its members can agree to a new four-year contract while avoiding a strike, union spokesman Bryan Corliss said.
Boeing took the same stance.
“We want to reach an agreement before the current contract expires and look forward to finding a solution with SPEEA at the table. To protect business continuity and support our customers, we’re implementing our contingency planning which will leverage a wide range of qualified resources with a continued emphasis on safety and quality,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.
Boeing’s last two major union contract negotiations ended in extended strikes — a seven-week walkout by roughly 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at the commercial aircraft business in 2024, followed by a 101-day strike by about 3,200 IAM members at the defense division last year.
