Strife persists among Boeing engineering leaders

Published 9:16 am Thursday, August 9, 2007

In 2008, Boeing engineers could lock horns with the aerospace giant over contract negotiations.

Today, the leaders of the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace are locking some horns of their own.

In July, the seven members of the executive board voted 4-3 to oust executive director Charles Bofferding.

A month later, the members remain at odds over the decision. Most recently, SPEEA president Cynthia Cole wrote about the event and its consequences in her monthly “SpotLite” column.

Couldn’t find Cole’s column? That’s because several other board members considered it an attack and voted against publishing it.

You’ll find a link to Cole’s complete unpublished column with my story in today’s Herald.

In-fighting at SPEEA raises significant concerns for its nearly 20,000 members in the Puget Sound region.

Will the board recover and select the best executive director for the job? And, most importantly, how will the unrest at SPEEA impact contract negotiations with Boeing next year?