Key facts
- Voting on Boeing's contract offer to its largest white-collar union, SPEEA, concludes Friday.
- Results of the vote are expected by mid-afternoon Seattle time.
- Boeing's offer includes wage increases tied to inflation (capped at 3%) and performance.
- SPEEA's technicians unit council recommended rejecting the offer.
- SPEEA's engineers unit council did not provide a recommendation to accept or reject.
- A work stoppage by SPEEA members could further delay Boeing's 737 Max 10 and 777-9 certification campaigns.
Voting on a contract offer for Boeing's largest white-collar union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), concludes on Friday, with results anticipated by mid-afternoon in Seattle. The offer, reached in late July, aims to prevent a strike by thousands of engineers and technical workers.
Despite the tentative agreement being endorsed by SPEEA's negotiating team, neither the engineers' nor the technicians' bargaining unit councils have backed the offer. The technicians' council recommended rejection, while the engineers' council did not achieve the necessary 60% threshold to make a recommendation. The current contract is set to expire in October.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg stated in July that the company initiated discussions early to reach an agreement that supports employees and business progress. However, several SPEEA members expressed concerns that the proposed contract's inflation-based wage increases, capped at 3%, would not keep pace with rising costs.
A work stoppage by SPEEA members could further delay Boeing's certification processes for the 737 Max 10 and 777-9 aircraft, both of which are already behind schedule. This follows a seven-week strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers earlier in 2024.