SPEEA moves to protect members in event of Wichita sale

Published 1:46 pm Monday, January 26, 2009

Boeing’s engineers union has presented the company with a contract counterproposal that would protect members if Boeing sells off its Wichita operations.

SPEEA had asked Boeing whether it plans to sell the IDS facility in Kansas during its most recent round of contract negotiations. In a statement today, the union said that Boeing hasn’t confirmed or denied whether it intends to sell the plant but considers that “irrelevant” to contract negotiations.

Boeing presented the union with its best and final offer for the Wichita engineers on Jan. 14. But SPEEA doesn’t see Boeing’s offer as “final.”

“These negotiations are not done,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “Boeing is clearly trying to treat Wichita engineers in a lesser fashion than engineers in other locations. They presented a better offer to engineers in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah, and our counterproposal is a reasonable way to improve the offer for Wichita engineers.”

About SPEEA members have been working under a contract extension since December.