Boeing and engineers' union reach tentative contract agreement

By Dan Catchpole

SEATTLE, Sept 11 (Reuters) - ‌Boeing and its ​engineering union ​reached a tentative contract agreement on Friday, union officials said.

The four-year offer includes higher general wage increases than the first offer, which members of the ‌Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) overwhelmingly rejected in an August ⁠21 vote.

If approved, the roughly 17,000 members of SPEEA's professional and technical units would get a 10% wage raise ‌on October 16, followed by 4% ‌raises plus merit-based increases in 2027 through 2030.

"Our final contract offer addresses the top priorities identified by our employees and SPEEA’s bargaining teams, including an immediate wage increase ​and larger wage pools with guarantees," Boeing's Ben Nimmergut, vice president and functional chief engineer for production engineering, said in a statement.

The latest offer includes changes to work-from-home ⁠policies and overtime limits for professional unit members, according to the union.

After rejecting Boeing's first offer, SPEEA members said in ​an internal survey that their top priority was getting higher general wage increases.

“We heard you clearly, in your survey responses and comments at Town ​Hall meetings. We took your words with us ‌back to the table, and they shaped every conversation we had with Boeing executives," SPEEA's negotiating team said in a statement.

The tentative deal "isn’t everything ⁠we’d asked for, but it represents a real step forward toward improving our pay and work lives and rebuilding the relationship between Boeing leadership and our union’s members," the team said.

The current contract ⁠expires October 6. If a deal is not finalized by then, SPEEA members can go on strike.

SPEEA ​members are critical to Boeing's efforts to certify its 737 MAX 10 and 777-9 jets, both of which are years behind schedule.

The previous offer had 3% general wage increases. Several SPEEA members told Reuters that ‌would nearly guarantee their salaries fall behind inflation.

The Consumer Price Index, an inflation benchmark, rose 4.5% over the past year for the Seattle area, ‌where most SPEEA members work, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in July.

SPEEA has not negotiated ⁠a new contract for its Northwest members ‌with the company since ​2012. Members approved contract extensions in 2016 and 2020.

(Reporting by Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Additional reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham; Editing by Kim Coghill and ‌Tom Hogue)

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