40 apply for top job at SPEEA

EVERETT — Members of the union representing Boeing Co. engineers will have a fair number of candidates from which to choose a new leader.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace received more than 40 applications for its executive director position. The group, which represents more than 20,000 engineers and technical workers in the Puget Sound region, intends to have a new director in place by the end of February, if not sooner.

Next year is a critical one for the union, which will negotiate new contracts on behalf of its members with the Boeing Co. and Spirit Aerosystems. After a tumultuous 2007, the union hopes to put on a united front when it sits down with Boeing.

SPEEA’s contract expires with Boeing on Dec. 1, 2008.

Over the coming weeks, union staff and board members will whittle down the list of candidates to about a dozen, who will be interviewed over the phone by the board, said Bill Dugovich, communications director.

Final candidates will be flown out to the Puget Sound region in mid-January for in-person interviews with the board. The finalists will address SPEEA’s Northwest Council when it meets Jan. 17. Although the board and staff may provide input on candidates, “the hiring will be done by the executive board,” Dugovich said.

The engineering group has undergone several leadership changes in 2007, including the July ousting of former executive director Charles Bofferding. In October, SPEEA members voted to recall the four executive board members who ended Bofferding’s contract.

In the wake of the recall, Bofferding submitted an application for the executive director position.

Dugovich could not release the names of other candidates for the executive director position. However, he did say that no current executive board members applied for the job.

In November, SPEEA named three new Northwest vice presidents to its board to fill spots created by the recalled members. The organization has said it will not fill the executive director position until all seven board members are in place. The Midwest Council will fill the final board vacancy Dec. 13.

Even once SPEEA has a full board and a new director, several key leadership positions are still up for grabs in 2008.

SPEEA’s president, treasurer and secretary — the three board members not affected by the recall — all face re-election next year. The election process for the two-year positions begins in January with ballots being counted mid-March.

Additionally, SPEEA will settle on contract negotiation teams in February. One of the four-member teams will represent engineers while the other represents technical workers. Both will work with the new executive director during contract negotiations.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.