Published: Thursday, September 11, 2008
Boeing engineers union presents its contract proposal
The union representing the Boeing Co.'s engineers presented a contract proposal Wednesday that calls for bringing back technical work outsourced to contracts, a better health-care plan and pay increases.
The proposal from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace is the first step toward negotiating a new pact for about 21,000 engineers and technical workers, mostly in the Puget Sound region.
SPEEA's contract with Boeing expires Dec. 1, with focused negotiations set to begin on Oct. 28.
The union proposal asks for up to 10 percent annual raises during each of the new contract's three years, better overtime pay and additional "controls on the use of all non-Boeing labor."
"They're all extremely important issues to our members right now," said union spokesman Bill Dugovich.
Boeing spokeswoman Karen Fincutter said the company hasn't had time for a detailed look at SPEEA's demands.
"We will review it carefully and provide a response in a week or so," Fincutter said.
As with the Machinists now walking picket lines around Boeing's airplane plants, the engineers are particularly opposed to any reductions in benefits, said Ray Goforth, SPEEA's executive director.
"There is no excuse whatsoever for Boeing to propose a single takeaway in these negotiations," Goforth said in a written statement.
This is the first contract in which Goforth takes part as the union's director. The contract negotiations will be a test of how well he has united the members after the ousting of former director Charles Bofferding in mid-2007 and the subsequent recall of several executive board members.
After assuming office in February, Goforth almost immediately went on the offensive with Boeing, calling out the company's executives for challenging the union's representation in other areas. SPEEA survived a challenge in June when professional and technical workers at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., voted 1,073 to 895 keep union representation. Last summer, workers at a Boeing defense site in Kansas ended their union representation by a 408-353 vote.
When SPEEA leaders presented their contract demands to Boeing managers Wednesday, they did so in Utah to show their opposition to Boeing's plan to negotiate separately with engineers who work on the company's missile program there. During the past year, Boeing forced an election of engineers there in an effort to remove SPEEA as the bargaining agent of about 40 engineers, Dugovich said. Instead, SPEEA actually expanded its membership there to more than 100 engineers.
The average annual salary for an engineer is $92,100. Technical workers bring in $67,432 annually on average.
Boeing put an end to retiree medical benefits for new SPEEA members in the 2005 contract. But Boeing and SPEEA were supposed to work together to come up with an alternative early retiree medical plan for new engineers and technical workers. The union has been unimpressed with Boeing's efforts.
Boeing's engineers have struck just twice, and there never has been a back-to-back strike of Machinists and Engineers. That is a possibility this year, however, Dugovich said.
"We're paying close attention to the strike. Their issues are our issues," he said of the striking Machinists. "We're hopeful both of these can be worked out."
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
The proposal from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace is the first step toward negotiating a new pact for about 21,000 engineers and technical workers, mostly in the Puget Sound region.
SPEEA's contract with Boeing expires Dec. 1, with focused negotiations set to begin on Oct. 28.
The union proposal asks for up to 10 percent annual raises during each of the new contract's three years, better overtime pay and additional "controls on the use of all non-Boeing labor."
"They're all extremely important issues to our members right now," said union spokesman Bill Dugovich.
Boeing spokeswoman Karen Fincutter said the company hasn't had time for a detailed look at SPEEA's demands.
"We will review it carefully and provide a response in a week or so," Fincutter said.
As with the Machinists now walking picket lines around Boeing's airplane plants, the engineers are particularly opposed to any reductions in benefits, said Ray Goforth, SPEEA's executive director.
"There is no excuse whatsoever for Boeing to propose a single takeaway in these negotiations," Goforth said in a written statement.
This is the first contract in which Goforth takes part as the union's director. The contract negotiations will be a test of how well he has united the members after the ousting of former director Charles Bofferding in mid-2007 and the subsequent recall of several executive board members.
After assuming office in February, Goforth almost immediately went on the offensive with Boeing, calling out the company's executives for challenging the union's representation in other areas. SPEEA survived a challenge in June when professional and technical workers at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., voted 1,073 to 895 keep union representation. Last summer, workers at a Boeing defense site in Kansas ended their union representation by a 408-353 vote.
When SPEEA leaders presented their contract demands to Boeing managers Wednesday, they did so in Utah to show their opposition to Boeing's plan to negotiate separately with engineers who work on the company's missile program there. During the past year, Boeing forced an election of engineers there in an effort to remove SPEEA as the bargaining agent of about 40 engineers, Dugovich said. Instead, SPEEA actually expanded its membership there to more than 100 engineers.
The average annual salary for an engineer is $92,100. Technical workers bring in $67,432 annually on average.
Boeing put an end to retiree medical benefits for new SPEEA members in the 2005 contract. But Boeing and SPEEA were supposed to work together to come up with an alternative early retiree medical plan for new engineers and technical workers. The union has been unimpressed with Boeing's efforts.
Boeing's engineers have struck just twice, and there never has been a back-to-back strike of Machinists and Engineers. That is a possibility this year, however, Dugovich said.
"We're paying close attention to the strike. Their issues are our issues," he said of the striking Machinists. "We're hopeful both of these can be worked out."
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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