SPEEA prepares to count Boeing strike votes
Feb 18, 2013, 5:29 AM | Updated: 6:10 am
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.
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.
