In response to Prof and Tech members’ questions, here is information about related contract benefits.

At this week’s Main Table negotiations, both the SPEEA Wichita Engineering Unit (WEU) Negotiations Team and the Spirit leadership team exchanged proposals on economics, including raise pools, overtime, and time off.

Given the back-and-forth nature of negotiations, details will not be released until the offer is ready for a vote.

While we have been able to achieve some agreement on non-economic issues, we remain far apart relative to wages and benefits.

“I am disappointed by management’s valuation of the engineering workforce presented in the economics package,” said Brennan Macklin, WEU negotiation team member, after hearing management’s response to our proposal.

Other Main Table topics this week, included:

•	Office environment issues – Senior leaders presented information focused on environmental issues and infrastructure needs.
•	Financial situation at Spirit – Presented from the comptroller’s perspective.





 


Read more on the WEU Negotiations page

SPEEA, IFPTE Local 2001 President John Dimas presents a ceremonial check committing the union to providing up to $99,000 to the hardship fund for striking IAM 751 Machinists at Boeing, Friday (Oct. 4). From left, IAM 751 Chief of Staff Jason Chan, IAM 751 President Jon Holden, SPEEA Secretary Ryan Rule, SPEEA Treasurer Dan Nowlin, Dimas and SPEEA Northwest Vice President David Garrett. SPEEA’s Executive Board voted Oct. 3 to contribute $16,500 every two weeks to the IAM hardship fund for a period of three months.

SPEEA will donate up to $99,000 to the hardship fund for members of International Association of Machinists District Lodge 751 members who are on strike against The Boeing Company.

The union’s Executive Board voted Thursday (Oct. 3) night to approve sending $16,500 to the fund every two weeks for the next three months, should the strike last that long.

The money will come out of SPEEA’s reserves.

SPEEA President John Dimas hailed the board’s decision. “Twenty-four years ago, when our union was on strike against Boeing, other labor unions stepped up to provide financial support for our members with donations to our hardship fund,” he said. “We are proud to return the favor today.”

SPEEA’s seven-member Executive Board is elected by union members to set policy and make budget decisions for the union.
The donation comes after Boeing cancelled health insurance coverage for striking Machinists on Tuesday (Oct. 1), a move that was loudly criticized by aerospace industry insiders.

“Boeing leadership has talked for weeks about wanting a ‘reset’ in its relationship with its unionized workforce,” said SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth. “Cutting off health insurance for the children and spouses of your employees certainly resets the relationship, but not in a positive way. Truly, it’s a huge step backwards.”

Dimas and Goforth both called on Boeing to return the bargaining table to work out an agreement that meets the needs of Machinists Union members. The two sides haven’t met since Sept. 27.

“Boeing has very real problems with quality, safety, profitability and credibility,” Goforth said. “The first step toward solving all of those problems is getting the Machinists back to work with a collective bargaining agreement that rewards them for the value they create.”

SPEEA’s Executive Board on Thursday unanimously rejected a written request from the Boeing Co. to include engineers and technical workers represented by the union in its planned furloughs of non-union workers.

“We don’t see any compelling reason to change the provisions of our collective bargaining agreement,” said SPEEA President John Dimas. “We rejected the request. Our contracts, with their legally enforceable prohibitions on furloughs, remain in place.”

Rather than conserving cash to cover the mistakes of the past, Dimas said, Boeing management needs to invest in something that can generate future profits – its workforce.

“To repair its balance sheet, Boeing needs to make striking Machinists an offer that would end the current dispute and put them back to work,” Dimas continued. “Boeing financiers can’t generate revenue – that takes unionized Machinists, engineers and technical workers who are on the job, building, certifying and delivering aircraft to paying customers.”

The Executive Board is a seven-member body of union members elected by their peers to set policy for the union.

Earlier this week, Boeing announced that non-union workers at the company will be forced to take one week of unpaid leave each month that the Machinists strike against the company lasts.

It was the wrong move, said SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth: “Boeing’s financial problems are largely self-inflicted. Instead of creating some Rube Goldberg furlough scheme to preserve cash, Boeing should give the IAM a contract offer that reflects the value they generate for the company so everyone can get back to building airplanes.”

SPEEA is strongly supporting the striking Machinists Union Districts 751 and W24, which voted 96% to strike against Boeing on Sept. 12.

“The IAM’s success at the bargaining table now will lay the foundation for our own SPEEA contract talks in 2026,” Dimas said. “I encourage members of our union to continue supporting the Machinists, and in particular to volunteer to spend time during your off-work hours standing on picket lines alongside them.”

Click here to read the full press release.

Each week, SPEEA’s social media will feature a Wichita member sharing why they became dues-paying members.

Why Wichita

SPEEA is initially focusing this social media campaign on the Midwest to help build momentum with the Wichita Engineering Unit (WEU) negotiations and the pending Boeing buyout of its former Wichita manufacturing site.

Look for new posts each Monday on SPEEA’s social media sites.

Interested in sharing why you joined SPEEA? Email speea@speea.org. 

Committees are open to all members and cover a wide range of interests. Interested in politics? Join the Legislative and Public Affairs Committee. Other committees focus on diversity, member activities, new members, women's advocacy, veterans issues and other issues important to members. Attend a meeting to get a feel for the issues and activities. New issues and ideas are always welcome.

Established committees, along with their charter and officers are listed on the committee pages. For more information, attend a meeting or contact one of the committee officers.

SPEEA Committees                        Midwest Committees                    Northwest Committees