Boeing, engineers far apart on new contract
Sep 5, 2012, 6:15 AM | Updated: 7:52 am
Boeing engineers demonstrate a computer program that lets customers purchasing the Boeing 787 take a virtual tour. (AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
Just a month remains before the contract between Boeing and its second largest union expires, and the company and its aerospace engineers remain far apart on pay.
“We want salaries to be market leading, where we can attract and retain the best talent in the world,” Mike Delaney, Boeing’s Engineering Vice President for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, tells KING 5. “We have to find that sweet spot and balance, that’s the complexity of this discussion.”
While Delaney insists the company pays about 7 percent more than other comparable companies, the head of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) argues it does no better than average.
“We’re focused on getting a deal,” said SPEEA’s executive director Ray Goforth. “For some reason the company is not.”
SPEEA represents about 23,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers. Their previous contract requests have included wage increases of up to 7.5 percent. But the company says that’s too much.
“If you rolled [SPEEA’s] numbers, they would be 25 to 30 percent over the national market for engineering. And that would make my team uncompetitive,” says Delaney.
Goforth counters the company is actually seeking across-the-board pay and benefit cuts and is demanding Boeing put an offer on the table. The company traditionally makes a full offer about three weeks before a contract expires, giving SPEEA workers two weeks to vote on the deal by mail.
While SPEEA members last struck in 2000, Goforth says he doesn’t expect the current disconnect between the company and union will lead to a walkout. But he predicts it will take several offers from the company to reach a final deal.
