SPEEA’s Negotiation Team has received offers from Boeing on proposed four-year collective bargaining agreements for some 17,000 aerospace professionals. There are two agreements, one for the Professional unit, made up of some 13,000 engineers and scientists, and one for roughly 4,000 technicians, analysts and planners in the Technical unit.
The Prof and Tech teams both are endorsing the offer, saying it offers real and meaningful value to the membership, delivers real positive change to work/life balance and delivers on the membership's priorities.
During negotiations, team members said they felt that Boeing executives had heard their concerns and responded to them in respectful and collaborative ways. This attitude, they said, seems to represent true movement by Boeing and a desire to rebuild trust with its SPEEA-represented workforce.
The result was a contract offer that team members hope reflects the trust SPEEA members placed in the Negotiation Team.
Next steps
Details on the offer are not immediately available. Under SPEEA’s governing documents, the next step will be for the union’s Bargaining Unit Councils (or BUCs) to meet to review the offers. Those meetings will happen next week.
There are two BUCs, one for each bargaining unit. Those BUCs are comprised of SPEEA Executive Board members as well as Council Reps who represent bargaining unit members in the workplace. There are currently 59 council members for the Prof unit, 17 for the Tech unit and 16 council members who represent both.
The BUCs are charged with issuing their recommendation on the offers to SPEEA members, and the BUCs have the power to call for a strike authorization vote. No strike could occur until after the current contracts expire on Oct. 6.
After the BUCs have reviewed the offer and made their recommendations, then information on the offers will be presented to SPEEA members, who will have ample time to review the offers before voting on them. The election date will be announced later.