Business & Tech

Professional Engineers, Technicians Union Continues Negotiations With Boeing

SPEEA communications director says, "There's a lot of work that needs to be done."

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) and The Boeing Company continue to work toward a new contract.

On Wednesday, the SPEEA unit negotiation teams held a full session with  Boeing at the SPEEA headquarter office, where about 40 people attended the discussion.

The meeting is part of an effort to secure new contracts following last week’s overwhelming rejection of the company’s initial contract offers.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

SPEEA’s current contract is the starting point for new contract negotiations, said Bill Dugovich, communications director for SPEEA, who described the meetings as “cordial.”

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” he said. “There are a lot of outstanding information requests.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

It’s uncertain exactly how long the negotiations will last; however, if Boeing is forthcoming, an agreement could be reached in a reasonable amount of time, Dugovich said.

There’s no talk of a strike, yet.

“That’s a long way off,” he said, adding, “there are other ways to increase pressure.”

Those methods include a "work to rule" campaign, participating in factory walkabouts and member marches.

Every Wednesday, SPEEA members will wear their red “Vote NO” T-shirts.

Last Friday, SPEEA filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against Boeing. It’ll be at least a month or two before the National Labor Board responds, he said.

Dugovich sent this message to SPEEA members following Wednesday’s negotiations:

"SPEEA Prof and Tech unit negotiation teams today (Oct. 10) held a full session with The Boeing Company as efforts to secure new contracts moved beyond last week’s overwhelming rejection of the company’s initial contract offers.

The session started the long process of working through issues and contract sections. Our teams reiterated concerns and restated our need for information in many areas covered by our Prof and Tech contracts. Among the areas needing additional information are questions regarding job titles, overtime and accrual rates, the Learning Together Program, medical layoff, holidays and vacation schedules.

The company agreed to continue exchanging information as we work to schedule the next meeting."

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Edmonds