Fortune Magazine reports Boeing Company’s engineers’ union ratified new six-year labor contracts by a wide margin recently that will ensure stability during a period when the plane maker is bringing out new versions of its two most profitable jetliners, the 737 and the 777.
More than 70 percent of voters backed the agreements for two bargaining units of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) that cover 20,100 workers, the union said. The deals mark a sharp shift from contentious negotiations over the last contract in 2012.
The agreements take effect immediately, replacing a contract due to expire in October.
The new contracts improve wages, vacation, layoff and retirement benefits. Boeing agreed to pay 15 percent more than the national average of wages for professional engineers. Technical workers will be paid 22 percent above the benchmark, with the percentage falling to 17 percent by 2022.
They govern 14,100 professional engineers and 6,000 technical workers, mostly in the Puget Sound area, but including some in California, Oregon, Utah and Florida. The new contracts expire in October 2022.
Fortune reports the agreements “grew from a strong desire on both sides to find common ground and negotiate contracts that work for SPEEA members and Boeing,” said Ryan Rule, president of the union. “It was a unique opportunity that allowed these early contract talks,” he added. “We’re glad it worked.”
