Boeing-SPEEA -- Tentative Agreement Reached in Wichita.Business Editors WICHITA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2000 Negotiators for the union representing Boeing engineers here have lifted an offer for a new three-year contract. The membership will vote on the contract on Tuesday. The agreement comes after two days of intense negotiations and nearly four months of waiting by the 1,350 employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) is a major Boeing engineering employee labor union. It is often known for its massive member base. External links
SPEEA Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association , IFPTE IFPTE International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 2001, AFL-CIO AFL-CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. AFL-CIO in full American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations U.S. ). Negotiations in Wichita have been on hold since Dec. 5 when engineers here turned down the company's offer by a margin of 99 percent. SPEEA's Wichita bargaining unit A bargaining unit in labor relations is a group of employees with a clear and identifiable community of interests who are (under U.S. law) represented by a single labor union in collective bargaining and other dealings with management. voted for strike authorization, but did not have to use the threat. Instead, members here were able to secure a "me too" agreement with Boeing near the end of the 40-day strike in Seattle. Members still must ratify the tentative agreement. The vote is planned for Tuesday, with the time and place to be determined. The negotiating team has unanimously recommended acceptance. The wait for the strike to end was worth it. Wichita engineers secured the same salary and benefits increases won by SPEEA's Puget Sound Puget Sound (py  `jĕt), arm of the Pacific Ocean, NW Wash., connected with the Pacific by Juan de Fuca Strait, entered through the Admiralty Inlet and extending in two arms c. engineering bargaining unit. The new contract has no benefit take-aways and gives all engineers a minimum 9 percent pay increase out of a 17 percent pool over three years. The negotiations demonstrated the power of a union, said Doug Ritter rit·ter n. pl. ritter A knight. [German, from Middle High German riter, from Middle Dutch ridder, from r , chair of the negotiating team. "We are quite pleased," Ritter said. "The process demonstrated the power of a union and the benefits it has to the employees who belong to it." SPEEA membership has been increasing in Wichita. The union is presently working to organize additional segments of Boeing operations here. A current campaign hopes to bring in an additional 4,000 members. The new workers would be both technical and office staff presently working at Boeing's Wichita facilities. "With negotiations concluded we will now turn our focus onto organizing," Ritter said. SPEEA, Boeing's second largest union, represents 22,600 engineers and other technical workers at Boeing, including 1,350 employees in Wichita. Members are also located in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah and Florida. |
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