Boeing Dodges Strike with SPEEA Contract Approval
Boeing has avoided a potentially costly and disruptive strike of its union-represented engineers and technicians after SPEEA members approved new four-year contracts. The vote passed with 68% of the professional unit and 54% of the technical unit in favor, providing a 10% wage increase effective October 2, and another 4% in March.
The average salary for a SPEEA-represented engineer will rise to $208,000 from $152,000, while average tech salaries will increase to $163,000 from $119,000. The new contracts come just before the current ones were set to expire, and would have allowed thousands of workers to strike if approved.
Boeing's management is breathing a sigh of relief as the strike would have further delayed aircraft certification programs and hurt 737 Max production. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg acknowledged that certification activity would all but cease if SPEEA-represented workers went on strike, and said it would have a ripple effect into their production systems.
The union's negotiation team hailed the contract approvals as 'victories that some thought were completely out of reach,' but also acknowledged ongoing work to re-establish trust with the membership. The new contracts are seen as an effort to restore aerospace professionals and technicians to the center of Boeing's universe.