TUKWILA — Boeing submitted final 4-year collective bargaining offers to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, SPEEA IFPTE Local 2001, that union negotiators are endorsing for its 17,000 members.
SPEEA’s negotiation team has received offers from Boeing on proposed four-year collective bargaining agreements for 13,000 engineers and scientists in the professional unit and another contract for roughly 4,000 technicians, analysts and planners in the technical unit.
According to SPEEA, the professional and technical 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 wrote in a union press release, “seems to represent true movement by Boeing and a desire to rebuild trust with its SPEEA-represented workforce.”
The new CBAs would, if approved, prevent any work stoppage when the existing contract expires on October 6. The contract negotiations appear to have concluded two months before that deadline, which is significant, according to aviation analyst and editor of LeehamNews.com, Howard Hardee.
“Boeing’s labor posture is noticeably different now than just a few years ago,” Hardee tells EverettPost.com. “Boeing engaged in acrimonious negotiations in the recent past, including during the IAM strike in 2024, though that was a different beast. For a long time, it appeared that Boeing’s management thought that labor conflict was an acceptable cost of doing business. But the SPEEA union itself is saying this feels different—that their concerns are being heard—and both sides are publicly signaling positive momentum on reaching an agreement quickly.”
A labor stoppage at Boeing could further delay certification efforts for 737 MAX 10 – the largest variant of its single-aisle jet – and the 777-9, its largest jetliner. The company is already years behind schedule on certification, which is engineering-intensive work, Hardee underscores.
“Boeing needs stability more than anything,” Hardee notes. “(CEO Kelly) Ortberg has said they need a couple of years to steady their finances before considering launching a new aircraft platform. Firmer financial footing depends on production stability and increasing monthly 737 Max production rates. They want to project steadiness and reliability to suppliers and airlines. In other words, Boeing management very much wants to avoid a work stoppage right now. Considering specifically what an engineers’ strike could mean, that might hold up certification efforts. Certifying the Max 7, Max 10 and 777X is a big part of the picture for Boeing’s medium-term strategy.”
Details on the latest offers have not been disclosed. According to 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. 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 for review. SPEEA says the election date will be announced later.
Reuters reports Boeing has had three major union contract negotiations in as many years. The previous two, covering the plane maker’s commercial aircraft workers and a separate bargaining unit of defense workers, both represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ended after extended strikes.
In January, Boeing reached a contract with roughly 1,600 SPEEA members at the former Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. The contract included a $6,000 ratification bonus, annual wage increases, improvements to medical and retirement plans, and an additional six days off a year.