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Posted 4/11/2025
Take action now
Vote is imminent for Unemployment Insurance
bill for striking workers

Senate Bill 5041 – the bill to extend unemployment benefits to striking workers – will come up for a final vote in the Washington House of Representatives within the next few days.

That’s why our union needs you to take (at most) two minutes to send an email to your state representatives, urging them to vote yes on SB 5041. There’s a pre-drafted message waiting; just enter your name and street address and the software will look up who your representatives are. All you have to do is click “Send.”

Use this link to send the message and do it RIGHT NOW. In 2026, we’ll all be glad you did!

Posted 4/9/2025
2025-2027 General Council Rep elections
Online ballot information in the mail for CR elections
SPEEA is conducting online elections for contested districts in both the Northwest and Midwest.

The online ballot information, voting instructions and candidate statements went in the mail Wednesday, April 9, to the homes of members in the contested districts.

Auburn A-1 (one seat) Candidate Statements

  Mike Arrington
  Benjamin Nielsen
  Carl Mayer

Everett E-2 (one seat) Candidate Statements

  Deborah (Debi) E. Pennington
  John Cardiel

Everett E-15 (seven seats) Candidate Statements

  Josh DeWinter
  Amad El-Disi
  Lindsey J. Meiling
  Aaron Last
  Linda Leben
  Rick Williamson
  David Garrett
  Tim Kadri

Everett E-21 (one seat) Candidate Statements

  Rod Siders
  Raquel P. Cundiff

Everett E-31 (two seats) Candidate Statements

  Dr. Sergey Barmichev
  Andrew Alam
  Michael Berryhill

Everett E-33 (one seat) Candidate Statements

  Rachel Barrett
  Joseph E. Gockowski, III

Spirit S-12 (five seats) Candidate Statements

  Scott Reida
  Joymesia Lee
  Stephanie Marsh
  Ponolar "Evette" Washington
  Angela Hottle
  Emily Forest
  Wes Gardner

Click the links to see the list of unopposed Council Reps/districts as well as candidates in contested races and vacancies.

 
 

Reminder on campaigning

Federal laws prohibit the use of company or union resources, such as bulletin boards, email or printers, in campaigning. This applies to the candidates and their supporters.

Candidates can, at their expense, mail campaign literature to members’ homes. They work with a bonded mailing house. Addresses are never provided directly to a candidate.

Posted 4/3/2025
SPEEA backs bill to put workers on boards of major aerospace companies

SPEEA supports a bill drafted by U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) that would require large aerospace manufacturers to include two labor representatives and two safety experts on their board of directors.

Read more
Posted 4/1/2025
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
Apply for NW Council STEM grant
Are you involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach? You may be eligible to apply for a Northwest Council STEM grant.

The grants are distributed to help non-profit organizations promote students’ interest in STEM-related careers.

Grant applications can only be submitted by Northwest members who are connected to the organization as a coach, mentor or parent with a student involved, for example.

Click here for application

The deadline to apply is Friday, Aug. 15.

Members needed for grant review committee

Northwest SPEEA members are encouraged to apply for the committee reviewing STEM grant applications. The committee, which includes Northwest Council officers, provides its recommendation to the Council for a vote.

To apply for the STEM Grant Review Committee, email nw_stem_grants@speea.org with your contact information and school district where you live by noon, Friday, June 27.
Posted 3/31/2025
Legislative update: SB 5041 moves forward in House of Representatives!
The bill to extend unemployment insurance for striking workers has cleared its first hurdle in the Washington state House of Representatives!

The House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards approved Senate Bill 5041 on a 6-3 vote March 21. The bill is awaiting review from the House Appropriations Committee.

This is a hugely positive step for us as we try to level the playing field for striking workers. But the battle is not over yet. Boeing and its corporate allies are fighting back with a two-pronged attack: They’re trying to water down the bill to make it less effective, and they’re also pressuring Representatives who have supported pro-worker legislation in the past.

Once again, we need members and allies to take action.

Click here to see a draft email you can modify and/or send to your state Representatives, explaining to them why you support unemployment insurance for striking workers and why you urge them to support it, too.

SB 5041 will make a huge difference for low-wage workers trying to win their first contracts. It also could be crucial to our union as we enter our contract talks with Boeing in 2026.

Help yourself and your fellow Washington workers by clicking the link and asking your elected Representatives to support Senate Bill 5041.
Posted 3/21/2025
SPEEA contract negotiations survey now closed

Thousands of SPEEA Prof and Tech members completed the Negotiation Prep Committee (NPC) initial survey which closed March 21.

The NPC will use the information from the survey to help define upcoming surveys regarding contract issues and priorities. The survey results will only be shared internally with the NPC committee members and committee staff focals.

All the surveys will help inform the Prof and Tech Negotiation Teams, which will be elected next year. Contracts for both the Professional Unit and Technical Unit expire on Oct. 6, 2026.

About NPC

NPC is a group of SPEEA members working with staff to set the stage for the Prof and Tech Negotiation Teams. The committee members work on gathering members’ input and raising awareness about the issues and the negotiation process.

All current Prof and Tech SPEEA members can attend the NPC meetings on the second Monday of every month, with in-person and virtual options. Get full voting privileges after attending three meetings as a guest.

Posted 3/12/2025
2025-2027 SPEEA Executive Board Elections
Newly elected Northwest regional vice presidents
Candidates Votes
Lynette Shiroma 808
David Garrett 675
Rick O'Neill 432
Tami Reichersamer 804
Richard Mahoney 488
Mike Arrington 401
Alex Phillips 328
Jeffrey L. Forbes 795
 
Congratulations to Lynette Shiroma, Tami Reichersamer and Jeffrey L. Forbes, the top-vote getters for three Northwest regional Vice President positions on the SPEEA Executive Board.

Midwest Regional Vice President Chris Streckfus ran unopposed for another term.

Candidate names are shown in ballot order with winners in bold.

Northwest Tellers authorized 15,376 ballots and received 1,846 ballots

The newly elected regional vice presidents begin two-year terms March 26.

Posted 1/22/2025
Reduction in Force (RIF)
RIFs create chaos and fear that hurts safety culture

Union members report Boeing sending more SPEEA work overseas

By Rich Plunkett
SPEEA Director of Strategic Development


On Oct. 11, 2024, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg released a message to employees announcing a reduction in force as part of his vision for “Positioning for the Future.”

His announcement said a 10% reduction in employment was necessary to achieve business goals, including to “ensure we stay competitive” and to “focus our resources on performing and innovating in the areas that are core to who we are, rather than spreading ourselves across too many efforts.

Nowhere in the message was there mention of Boeing having an excess of employees for the backlog of work at hand.

This edict from the new CEO appears to have flowed down to working-level managers with little to no resistance along the way. The announcement left line managers scrambling to figure out how to accomplish the work assigned to their teams with fewer people.

Adding to the chaos, this reduction in force (or RIF) included a “non-working RIF” component that our union had not seen before at Boeing.

Instead of SPEEA-represented engineers and technical workers who were facing layoffs having 60 days to finish out their projects and assignments or hand them off to colleagues, laid-off workers were told within days to turn in their Boeing-issued equipment, and they had their internal communications tools severed. Then they were shoved out the door.

This has resulted in scores of laid-off SPEEA members calling our union halls asking for advice on who they could inform about the status of the work they were doing for Boeing, including updating managers on what tasks had been finished and which were still in progress.

It almost seems like the SPEEA members who are leaving Boeing care more about the work they’d been assigned to do than the company does itself.

Exploiting potential loopholes

In addition, we’ve received reports from SPEEA members that suggest some Boeing managers are attempting to exploit what they see as loopholes in the SPEEA contracts.

In some instances, Boeing managers are attempting to keep laid-off SPEEA members on the job by shuffling people between accounting columns.

Some SPEEA-represented employees facing layoff have been told that they could continue to perform their work at Boeing – albeit for lesser pay. They’ve been told to apply for work with a third-party employment contractor, which has been providing workers to Boeing under a Purchased Service contract. This third-party contractor then would send the laid-off SPEEA member back to Boeing.

This contractor is a multi-national, technology outsourcing corporation based in India that is largely dependent upon H-1B visas.

Also, a handful of managers have tried to use the layoffs as an opportunity to purge their ranks of employees who have asked too many questions – even when those employees are members of Boeing’s elite cadre of engineers in the Boeing Technical Fellowship program.

Arbitration seems likely

SPEEA is currently investigating some of these layoffs as likely violations of our union’s contracts with Boeing. We’ve alerted Boeing’s Labor Relations leaders to these problems. Based on the responses we’ve received; it appears likely our union will have to go to arbitration to get these contract violations overturned.

While the outcome of any arbitration is at least six to 12 months away, SPEEA-represented Boeing workers are expressing sincere fear in the workplace NOW. They believe if they speak up in any meaningful way about a quality or safety issue, they will be laid off, too.
This, obviously, is antithetical to building a robust safety culture at Boeing.

Finally, some of the work that was being performed by SPEEA members who are now facing layoffs is being sent to Boeing facilities outside the United States – the Boeing India Engineering & Technology Center in particular – where Boeing employees earn significantly less than their American counterparts.

These overseas work transfers should trigger the protocols covered in Letter of Understanding 28, “Relating to Work Movement” in SPEEA’s contracts.

However, Boeing Labor Relations leaders say they are “not aware” of any such work movement, despite a growing body of reports documenting the transfers. This, too, seems like a case that will require an arbitration ruling to correct a contract violation.
In the meantime, Boeing employees are receiving the clear message that cheaper labor in the name of cost reductions is far more real than any safety culture improvements proclaimed by executives.

Join a committee!
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

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