Boeing engineers overwhelmingly back new labor contracts

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

BY ALWYN SCOTT

Boeing Co's (BA.N) engineers' union ratified six-year labor contracts by a wide margin on Wednesday, a vote that ensures stability during a period when the planemaker 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. 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.

Professional workers voted 6,085 to accept and 2,460 to reject, while technical workers voted 2,825 to accept and 1,030 to reject, the union said.

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-engineers-idUSKCN0VR0GE

[SpankMe]

1. Good for the Boeing engineers

I was an Engineer for McDonnell Douglas in the 80's and 90's and we negotiated labor contracts with the company as SCPEA - Southern California Professional Engineers Association. It wasn't a ratified union, under federal labor rules. It was an "association". But, we had binding contracts with the company as if were were a full-on union. We negotiated everything from raises and how the raise pool worked, to vacation policy, sick policy, medical benefits, savings plans, overtime pay and rules, discipline - everything. We did well. We had "orderly" employment and were generally contented with the pay and benefits and how we were treated.

Unfortunately, aerospace is rife with conservative-leaning people, and the bulk of the engineers at Huntington Beach decided that the company was treating us well and that we didn't need a union. Apparently it was beyond their ability to understand that we were doing well because of the contracts, and not because of the generosity of the company.

So, they managed to force a de-certification vote - and won. SCPEA was dissolved.

Things continued to be OK after we got bought by Boeing. But then we stared seeing erosion of our benefits. It crept in slowly at first - paying more for medical, reduction in overtime pay (we were exempt salaried, so the Company could pretty much do what they wanted), new compensation strategies that reduced raises by large amounts (a lot of people getting lump sums instead of raises), and on and on.

Then, when Boeing sold our divisions off to other companies and into other ventures, the erosion accelerated. Now, we're paying more than half of our medical premiums. All overtime pay has been eliminated. Raises are almost at zero for everyone now, except for underpaid new-hires. Sick time has been eliminated and we have to use vacation time as sick days. And tons more that I won't bore you with.

Bottom line is - professional unions for Engineers are good for our well being. I'm glad that Boeing engineers have a strong union and get such large support from the membership for the contracts that are negotiated. I'd love to have our union back.

[Jimbo S]

2. I didn't know there were engineers out there who could unionize

Good for them!