Boeing
The union has said it will wait to strike until after the company's incentive program checks are cut at the end of the month. They are equal to about three weeks pay.

SPEEA prepares to count Boeing strike votes

BY Chris Sullivan  on February 18, 2013 @ 5:29 am (Updated: 6:10 am - 2/18/13 )

Boeing's engineers and technical workers are hoping a potential strike authorization vote this week will pressure the company back to the bargaining table.

SPEEA will count the votes Tuesday night, and it's expected the union members will reject Boeing's contract offer and authorize a strike.

Union executive director Ray Gorforth said that should send a pretty clear message. "If the members reject this contract offer, the pressure from the customers and Wall Street will be so horrendous on Boeing Corporate that they will move off of the intransigent positions they've taken."

Even if the membership authorizes a strike, the earliest they will walk out is March. The union has said it will wait to strike until after the company's incentive program checks are cut at the end of the month. They are equal to about three weeks pay.

The biggest sticking point in this contract is the pension plan. Boeing wants new hires to enter into a 401k system instead of the current pension plan. SPEEA said it will not accept that change in the retirement program.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (32)


  • Add A Comment

  • RonJ wrote...
    What a bunch of wankers!
    February 18, 2013 5:53 am
    Can u union employees pronounce South Carolina! Try it slowly the first time. Unsustainable pension obligations and healthcare costs are what sunk the auto industry. But wait, there's always ObamaCare and "BamaBailouts!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Since you obviously are a CEO
    February 18, 2013 6:33 am
    Tell me where you plan on getting 30,000 qualified and certified Engineers to continue business once you move?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    Answer:
    February 18, 2013 1:57 pm
    India
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • just Fred wrote...
    the unions really need to think this through
    February 18, 2013 7:39 am
    The number of Boeing engineers is actually irrelevant, because if they force their unrealistic and unsustainable demands on Boeing, as did the auto workers union did, they are not going to have a job anyway because Boeing will either go out of business or move. Thanks for your selfish attitude boys, because your unrealistic demands effect the local economy, not just you. A 401K program is fair and sustainable. This change doesn not effect current members, so get over yourself. Or do you want to run Boeing out of business. You are just a bunch of sheep following some union boss - try thinking for yourself for a change
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Let see Fred
    February 18, 2013 7:50 am
    A lower VP just retired with a Million bucks a year and a 10 mill bonus. Plus they gave Multi Million dollar bonuses to the uppers. They also have 100% retirement and a sweet retirement medical plan

    But that's ok then I guess.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • just Fred wrote...
    Rick, I didn't say that
    February 18, 2013 8:03 am
    I was discussing the union demands. If you wish to discuss company officer pay and benefits that's a whole different discussion. And, since you seem to think you know how I feel about a subject, I should probably let you know that you are wrong, because, no, it's not ok.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Fred, Just Who Says....
    February 18, 2013 8:10 am
    ...what SPEEA wants is "unrealistic and unsustainable"? Apparently executive compensation and pensions protected against payroll tax increases are completely sustainable.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Here is a Homework Assignment for you naysayers
    February 18, 2013 8:25 am
    Invistigate how much the cost of an airplane is in Direct Labor (NOT all the indirect overhead (IE Managers, uppers, assistants VPs etc)).
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • just Fred wrote...
    Executive compensation
    February 18, 2013 8:36 am
    Although I do agree it can (and sometimes is) be a little over the top, what most people do not understand is, as an upper management executive, you basically sell your soul to the company. You work 24-7-365. you are expected to put your job first, your wife and children come second, your entertainment is the company, your hobby is the company, your frinds are the company. your life evolves around the company, everything else doesn't matter. So how do you put a price tag on that?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    Fred
    February 18, 2013 9:08 am
    Care to guess what the Boeing CEO's budget is for personal use of Boeing aircraft?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    It's not That Rough on Them
    February 18, 2013 9:55 am
    I know people in those positions. During a crisis, yes your duties can be all consuming but guess what? The same thing happens to the engineers when things get tough. Ask a 787 engineer.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    So steadfast in their decision to strike....but we'll wait to get our bonus checks first
    February 18, 2013 9:21 am
    Unbelievable! LOL The greed of these people...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Deltta wrote...
    February 18, 2013 9:24 am
    Who cares Deltta, he's the CEO not some rank and file engineer that is striking every 4 months. He shows up to work everyday like he should. You want your corporate jet allowance, apply for the CEO position. That's the way life works. I'm shocked you need someone to tell you that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    Hey shark
    February 18, 2013 9:31 am
    My post was in response to fred saying Boeing execs dont have a personal life. Here's one for you.....When was the last time SPEEA or the IAM went on strike? Oh, and stop being a drama queen.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ScoSher77 wrote...
    @deltta
    February 19, 2013 12:45 pm
    Let me guess this one, SPEEA it said 2000, the IAM i believe was in 2008 sometime around Oct/Nov.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    "SPEEA will count the votes Tuesday night"
    February 18, 2013 9:27 am
    Why bother counting? A strike was already a forgone conclusion as soon as the word strike was mentioned. Will the last Boeing engineer please turn out the lights when Boeing is gone for good?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dglan41 wrote...
    SPEEA
    February 18, 2013 10:41 am
    First I WORK FOR BOEING > NOT SEATTLE AREA. and AM NOT A PART OF SPEEA. the rest of the conpany is not as lazy and stupid as seattle. please dont think we are all like them. yes i said them ( the ones who will kill this company ) the GREEDY ONE. the lazy ones. REAL BOEING ENGINEERS are NOT like them
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mike2013 wrote...
    TO Dglan41
    February 18, 2013 11:51 am
    Hello, I had to sign up for this site just to respond back to you, are you saying I am lazy? Interesting when you absolutely no nothing about me. I am not greedy; I am protecting new and retired employees. We are not trying to kill the company. We just had record profits and we are still increasing output. Not sure why you think we are killing the company. Boeing South Carolina only delivered 4 out of all the airplanes. As I said in many blogs, SC does not have the infrastructure to support a all of commercial airplanes. SC will have a hard time attracting engineers and technical workers there. There is not many high tech jobs there right now. Anyway, I encourage you to do a little more research on the matter. Thanks, Mike
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    @ Dglan41: It is nice to hear from one of the (Real eEmployees)-
    February 18, 2013 1:37 pm
    For a change instead of one of the whining, lazy SPEEA members.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    Woops..
    February 18, 2013 1:39 pm
    Employees
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ScoSher77 wrote...
    @Dglan41
    February 19, 2013 12:54 pm
    Agreed. Another note, not all employees period are like the greedy, lazy ones who want to do nothing more than stand there with their hands in their pockets stuffin their face with doughnuts and coffee from Tully's cafe and come up with stupid s*it to b*tch and whine about. Seems like they have their panties in wad because of how much a VP, management, CEO's makes or what their bonuses are, not what they claim to be an actual strike.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    they will move off of the intransigent positions they've taken
    February 18, 2013 2:08 pm
    Puget Sound vesus Myrtle Beach. Score another round for Myrtle Beach! p.s. dont forget to check your batteries
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    This is where Republicans and I most often disagree
    February 18, 2013 2:12 pm
    When it comes to business, and their relationship with their workers. For whatever reason, Republicans are steadfast in their support of corporate America and strongly believe in standing in their corner vs the working man. It's as if right wingers believe that corporations will properly compensate their employees and there's no need to worry about workers rights because employees can simply change jobs if their companies aren't competetive... I'm sorry I think that's Naive, I honestly believe if you want to know what working conditions would be like if there were no regulations on them, look no further than early industrialized America... Workers rights were nothing back then, People worked 6-7 days a week 12 hours+ a day... people died left and right, wages were pathetic, conditions were terrible... If Corporate America could, they would return those working conditions in todays world, they absolutely do not care about their workers... It used to be that if you helped your business make money, they would pass that along to you... employees could move up the chain... it's not like that anymore... Businesses hold the reigns firmly now... economy has made an imbalance in supply and demand for employees... now you take what you can get and believe me you're not going to make as much as you did 4 years ago, or if you do, you're never secure in your position. Corporate America is greed through and through, they've spent decades erroding the regulations that kept American workers working on a living wage... instead, they've demonized ALL UNIONS, (Some Unions deserve it, others not so much) and torched the American dream... that's why the Middle class is dying off... The Greedy ones at the top, the CEO's and what not, those guys draw SO MUCH out of the company that profit doesn't make it's way back to the worker anymore... The path we're on will have most living in poverty in the next few decades, and it's not because of overregulation or because of union workers, it's because of the greed at the top... Yes, the CEO should make more than the worker, but the gap should not be as large as it has become.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    "believe me you're not going to make as much as you did 4 years ago"
    February 18, 2013 2:42 pm
    Really Cbrew? (I donn't believe you.) I work for a big national company (Non Union) and I have consistently made more money every year during the last four years based off of merit (not seniority) even though the company has actually lost money over most of those years, I have also received nice bonuses in all but four of those sixteen quarters, and yes the CEO makes millions of dollars a year in salary and bonuses but you know what he deserves it he is the CEO for a reason.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Zoeller - Neat story
    February 18, 2013 2:58 pm
    I also work for a large company and I have also recieved Merit bonuses and Merit raises since the Recession because i work really hard... but i'm not blind to all the other employees that are not getting anything and some of them bust their butts just like I do.. I also know that bonuses were a lot bigger before and so were raises, now they hardly outpace inflation. As for your CEO comment, Since when do they deserve that kind of money you moron? Look at the position historically, GREAT CEO's back in the day didn't sniff the kind of money that CRAPPY CEO's make today. CEO is a joke position, the boys at the top pay eachother and none of it goes back down the food chain like it used to, i guess an idiot like you doesn't really take history into perspective because you can't see past your last couple paychecks but i actually study history and i actually do remember when my Dad and his dad for that matter were able to afford to own a home, raise 5 and 6 member families and do pretty well on just their income alone, and neither of them had better than a highschool education, I'm far more certified and in a much more important / critical job level than they were and I am hardly better off than they were. The moral of the story is, the further we go along, the less the American worker makes, hard work alone is not enough, Most families require 2 people working just to scratch by... It's BS, and the reason it's happening is wages did not Keep up with Cost of living and inflation and the money is going to the pockets of the idiots at the top (CEO's) and their investors, and nothing is going back to the workers that make them that money. They're basically sending a big middle finger back down to the American worker, yes there are cases like yourself and me that are being taken care of to an extent but the majority are getting shafted and we are too to an extent.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    Cbrew: Speaking of morons.
    February 18, 2013 3:24 pm
    "to an extent but the majority are getting shafted and we are too to an extent." Please never use the context of you and me in the same sentance of (We). If you feel that you are getting shafted go get another job. I know for a fact that I can take another job with a competitor @ a higher salary tomorrow if I so wished. As for most people getting shafted a large majority of the middle class have shafted themselves by wasting four years of college on frivolous, meaningless studies just to become a bank teller or some other remedial job.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Zoeller, You think very highly of yourself
    February 18, 2013 3:39 pm
    And that's great, perhaps you should take a step back though and recognize that you're nothing special on the open market, There's Millions of people out of work with Masters degrees in all sorts of fields, you're just too stupid to look outside of your own back yard. Get over yourself, i bet in a year you'll be laid off and looking for any job you can take for 18 bucks an hour crying about the economy... Pride comes before the fall you moron, i stick by calling you a moron you're so full of yourself.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    $18.00 an Hr. Really????
    February 18, 2013 3:56 pm
    I could make more than that digging ditches with the help of a backhoe of course. :) I have been in this profession for over Twenty Five consecutive years with various company’s and have had zero breaks in service other than personal vacations. I won’t be losing any sleep anytime soon. But thanks for your concern.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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