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)


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  • Engr wrote...
    Hold On
    February 19, 2013 5:48 pm
    I am a SPEEA engineer in Seattle. Remember that not everyone in SPEEA feels the same as its leadership. I voted to approve the contract and I know many people who did the same. We will see what happens in a few hours, but just remember that not all SPEEA engineers are blindly following the horrible advice of SPEEA leadership.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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