SPEEA shares the shock of our nation at the events which took place this
week in Washington D.C. and state capitals.
The vote of the people and the peaceful transition of power are core values upon which our democracy, society, and working families depend. SPEEA condemns
all efforts to hinder this process through violence, intimidation, or other violations
of law.
SPEEA calls upon all members of civil society to set aside our policy differences and unite to help our nation peacefully move forward.
We congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on their lawful election to our country’s highest offices.
Profs and Techs Boeing sets earlier date for 2021 salary adjustment funds
Boeing accelerated the effective date of the 2021 Annual Compensation Review from the contractual date of Friday, March 12 to Friday, Feb. 26.
Active Boeing employees in the Prof and Tech bargaining units on Dec. 31, 2020 (including those on a Leave of Absence of less than 180 days) are eligible for the contractual raise pools and lump sums if they are SPEEA-represented on Feb. 26.
Prof Unit – includes a 2.0% guaranteed Lump Sum Award and a 3.0% Selective Wage Pool.
Tech Unit – includes a 2.0% guaranteed Lump Sum Award, a 0.5% Minimum Guaranteed Wage Increase and a 2.5% Selective Wage Pool.
Additionally, any unspent promotional 2020 funds will be added to the selective pools for 2021.
Take the workplace safety survey! Safety a concern as members return to workplace
As more members are returning to partial or fulltime work in the workplace, the SPEEA Safety Committee is asking members to take a short survey about any concerns or issues they encounter.
Follow the link and spend three minutes to provide your input about the availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), issues you have or encounter in your work area.
In addition to taking the survey, we remind members to report issues and concerns about safety measures to management and to SPEEA. Union contract administrators are available to help. Document the particular issue and forward the information to: speea@speea.org.
Jan. 18– The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Aerospace Special Interest Group of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE Aerospace SIG) offers four virtual events from 7 – 10:30 a.m. (PT), Monday, Jan. 18.
Jan. 21– The United Way of King County offers a virtual panel discussion at 6 p.m.,Thursday, Jan. 21. The panel discussion addresses “Philanthropy & Advancing Racial Equity.”
The Seattle MLK Coalition will host a rally at 11 a.m., Monday, Jan. 18, at Garfield High School, followed by a march from the school about noon. Masks and social distancing required. Details at www.seattlemlkcoalition.org.
Reminder
SPEEA offices close Monday, Jan. 18, in observance of the federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
Updated Executive Board vice president election instructions
The SPEEA Executive Board Election Information & Petition booklet was updated Monday, Dec. 21, to include a mistakenly omitted candidate question. Candidates should download the newest version.
Questions were voted on and approved by the Northwest Council at the Nov. 12 meeting. A formatting error caused the omission of Question 6 for candidates running for the Northwest Regional vice president positions on the Executive Board.
The seven-member Board directs SPEEA’s activities through the executive director, prepares the annual budget and monitors expenses. The Board also serves as the team for any interim negotiations that may occur between formal bargaining sessions. Board members serve two-year terms.
Boeing agreement SPEEA gains access to backup child/elder care
After working for more than a year, SPEEA recently reached an agreement with Boeing to provide our members backup child care and elder care.
This gives SPEEA-represented employees access to alternative care when their own primary care is not available.
Starting January 2021, SPEEA-represented employees can access the backup care for up to 25 days through the end of next year.
After 2021, the number of available backup days will be the same number offered to other Boeing employees, which is currently 10 days a year.
The backup care services include:
A Bright Horizons network of child and elder care services at rates subsidized by Boeing.
Reimbursement for other care if Bright Horizons is not available for backup care.
This applies:
When a family member needs backup care while you are working, including working from home.
To any family member you would miss work to provide care for, including child, step-child, grandchild, parent, in-laws, siblings, spouse, partner or yourself.
Boeing will communicate details to represented employees, including how to access the backup care system, at virtual meetings scheduled for 11 a.m., Jan. 7, and 4 p.m., Jan. 12. Links will be provided via Boeing News Now (BNN) when final.
SPEEA filed a grievance after the issue came up in November 2019 when a SPEEA bargaining unit employee was denied access to this Boeing wellness service.
Rotational position Opening at Ed Wells Partnership
The Ed Wells Partnership is hiring a Program Administrator in the February/March timeframe. This is a two-year rotational position.
Applicants must be SPEEA-represented employees in the Puget Sound. The deadline to apply is Jan. 15.
Ed Wells Program administrators are responsible for coordinating and delivering career development opportunities to the
SPEEA-represented workforce.
WICHITA – Spirit AeroSystems recently issued Involuntary Layoff notices to 50 SPEEA-represented employees. For a majority, their last day of work is Dec. 11, with pay through Dec. 22.
Spirit also accepted 12 applications for Voluntary Layoff (VLO) from six Wichita Engineering Unit (WEU) and six Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) employees. Their final date of employment is Oct. 30.
SPEEA contract administrators continue to review the layoff information to ensure accuracy and compliance with union contracts.
The SPEEA website is being regularly updated with information to assist members. Go to www.speea.org (drop-down menu: Member Tools/Layoff Information).
SPEEA monitoring pays off
SPEEA staff recently noted 10 SPEEA-represented employees were laid off without sufficient notice.
Because of the union monitoring this issue and working with legal counsel, Spirit AeroSystems agreed to an additional one-time, lump sum payment.
The payment consisted of two weeks salary plus an amount equal to one month of COBRA medical coverage for the 10 affected.
Telephone
Dial 1-253-215-8782 or 1-301-715-8592
Webinar ID: 423 241 496
SPEEA has partnered with Rapid Response Teams in Washington and Oregon to hold informational webinars for employees who receive a WARN notice or volunteered for layoff.
Webinars continue each Tuesday in Oregon. While no new webinars have been scheduled in Washington, new webinars will be scheduled on an as-needed basis and posted to this website.
Information provided in the webinars is tailored for the locations where members receive services.
At the webinars, representatives from state Employment Security, WorkSource, Community and Technical Colleges, Employment Benefits Security Administration and Labor Councils provide information about services, benefits, and answer questions.
Boeing eliminates customer Flight Training Airplane pilots, sending jobs to overseas contract house
SEATTLE – The Boeing Company delivered layoff notices to its remaining seven Flight Training Airplane (FTA) pilots last month and will instead send the critical work of providing on-site training for airline customers to Cambridge Communications Limited (CCL), a contract house based in the Isle of Man.
Once hired and working for Boeing, the contract pilots are provided Boeing uniforms and business cards making them indistinguishable from Boeing’s own flight training pilots when they work with airlines and regulatory agencies.
The move came just days after the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released its investigation of the 737 MAX. Based on a year-long investigation, the report, along with citing a “culture of concealment” in Boeing management, calls on the company to provide additional training specific to the 737 MAX upgrades to every airline pilot flying the plane after it returns to service.
“I cannot believe Boeing chose this moment to fire their highly experienced training pilots and outsource their work to contractors they don’t even control,” said SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth.
At press time, SPEEA was preparing other actions to take on behalf of the pilots.
The Boeing Company and Spirit AeroSystems issued additional involuntary layoff notices to SPEEA-represented employees on Friday,September 18.
SPEEA contract administrators continue to review the layoff information provided by Boeing and Spirit to ensure accuracy and compliance with union contracts.
SPEEA is scheduling webinars, rapid response meetings and working to help impacted employees. The SPEEA website is being regularly updated with information to assist members. Workplace Council Representatives and SPEEA Contract Administrators are available to answer members' questions.
