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SPEEA statement on IAM's second contract rejection | Oct. 24
SPEEA continues to stand with striking Machinists union members who on Wednesday voted to reject the latest contract offer from the Boeing Co.
“Boeing executives and Wall Street analysts may have thought this was an adequate offer,” said SPEEA President John Dimas. “But in unions, it’s the members who get the final say.”
SPEEA will “continue supporting members of IAM Districts 751 and W24 for as long as it takes for them to get a contract offer that meets their needs and rewards them for the value they create for the company and its shareholders,” he said.
SPEEA has strongly supported the Machinists Union workers during their strike. More than 800 SPEEA members volunteered to spend time on IAM picket lines, with rallies at Boeing sites across Puget Sound, in Portland, Ore., and at Moses Lake, Wash.
The union’s executive board committed to donating up to $99,000 to IAM District 751’s hardship fund, depending on the length of the strike, of which $33,000 already had been donated. Another donation of $16,500 is scheduled for this week.
SPEEA also committed to supporting the IAM District W24 hardship fund. Countless members provided donations of food and drinks on their own to striking Machinists.
SPEEA represents more than 19,000 engineers, scientists, technical workers and pilots at Boeing sites in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah, and at Spirit AeroSystems in Kansas. The union will resume talks on Oct. 28 with managers at Spirit over a contract for some 1,000 engineers.
Posted Oct. 21, 2024
Frequently Asked Questions about layoffs
In response to Boeing’s pending layoffs, SPEEA is sharing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) related to the Prof and Tech contracts.
SPEEA Contract Administrators are working with Council Reps to host lunchtime meetings. In addition, SPEEA staff will put a video recording of the presentation online soon.
Have more questions?
Contact your district’s Council Rep. Not sure who your Council Rep is? Click here. Don’t have a Council Rep? Email your questions to speea@speea.org and note your BEMSID.
At this point, we don’t know of any direct impact to the jobs of any SPEEA-represented employees at Spirit AeroSystems. We have reached out to Spirit management to clarify some points of this morning’s announcement, and we are closely monitoring developments.
Our contract with Spirit does allow for shortened work weeks, but not furloughs, which are temporary layoffs.
The Boeing strike does add another element of uncertainty to our talks with management at Spirit toward a new contract for members of our Wichita Engineering Unit. However, we remain committed to working out a new deal that rewards Spirit engineers for their contributions to thecompany and ensures that our employer will be able to attract and retain top-tier talent. We expect to return to negotiations the week of Oct. 28.
SPEEA President John Dimas said the Spirit furlough announcement “actually represents yet another failure by Boeing management.
“Instead of presenting the Machinists Union members in Seattle and Portland with a contract that reflects the value they create for the company, Boeing has decided to keep the union on strike, which will have cascading impacts on Spirit and other companies throughout the industry,” Dimas said. “This not only has jeopardized the Boeing Co.’s future competitiveness, it also puts at risk our nation’s aerospace industry supply chain.”
Prof and Tech contract benefits
Want to know more about retentions, layoff benefits and level upgrade appeals?
In response to Prof and Tech members’ questions, here is information about related contract benefits.
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Retention ratings and layoff benefits – Under the terms of Boeing’s contracts with SPEEA, managers issue retention ratings each year. The ratings are used to determine the order of SPEEA members leaving the company in the event of a layoff. SPEEA’s contracts also define layoff benefits.
Click here for a link to the presentation on “Understanding Retention Ratings.” Toward the end of the PowerPoint, look for information on layoff benefits.
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Job level upgrade issues – The SPEEA Prof and Tech contracts have an appeal process if a job level upgrade has been denied. If a manager has denied a level upgrade because of a ‘freeze’ or other reason, contact your Council Rep who will follow up with the appropriate Contract Administrator on SPEEA staff.
Not sure who your Council Rep is? Click here. Don’t have a Council Rep? Email your questions to speea@speea.org and note your BEMSID.
Posted 10/11/2024
SPEEA statement on Boeing announcement about pending layoffs
In response to today’s (Oct. 11) message to all Boeing employees from CEO Kelly Ortberg, SPEEA issued the following statement:
Rather than resolve the IAM strike and focus the company’s resources on rebuilding the trust of regulators and customers, Boeing leadership has decided to harm every aspect of the company,” said SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth. “This doesn’t inspire confidence that there’s an actual plan to save Boeing from its self-inflicted wounds.”
Our union has reached out to Boeing for details about how this latest management misstep will affect our members who do the work that generates the company’s profits. Our contract defines a specific process for layoffs, which includes cash severance payments for those leaving the company as well as a minimum of three months of continued health insurance benefits. We note that under federal law, Boeing will have to give our members 60 days’ notice of any layoff.
WEU Negotiations Team update | Oct. 4
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:
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Office environment issues – Senior leaders presented information focused on environmental issues and infrastructure needs.
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Financial situation at Spirit – Presented from the comptroller’s perspective.
Posted 10/04/2024 SPEEA to donate up to $99,000 to Machinists on strike at Boeing
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.”
Posted 9/19/2024 SPEEA rejects furloughs for union’s members at Boeing
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.”
Member Mondays Kicking off ‘Why SPEEA’ member testimonials
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.
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