White-collar Boeing union approves contract, averts strike

Engineers and technicians at Boeing voted in favour of the latest contract offer, the union announced Thursday, removing the risk of another bruising strike at the aviation giant.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), Boeing’s white-collar union, ratified the contract for US workers, according to the union’s press release that detailed higher pay and other benefits.

“We secured many victories that some people thought were completely out of reach when this negotiation cycle started,” the SPEEA negotiation team said.

“All of these gains would not have been possible without your individual actions and our collective strength,” it said.

Workers had rejected an earlier proposal for a contract to replace the one expiring on Oct 6.

The ratification gave a boost to Boeing shares, which jumped 3.4% Thursday after the results were announced.

“We’re pleased with the outcome of the vote,” said Ben Nimmergut, vice-president and functional chief engineer for production engineering at Boeing.

“We look forward to working with our team to support our company’s continued recovery and meeting our customer commitments now and into the future.”

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg had warned at a Wall Street conference last month of damaging effects from a strike, including a halt to efforts to certify the 777X aircraft and a negative impact on production.

Boeing endured a more than seven-week strike of Boeing machinists in the fall of 2024 that suspended production of key planes.

The professional unit, representing some 13,000 engineers and scientists, voted “yes” by 67.6%.

The tech unit, which has more than 4,000 analysts and technicians, voted by 53.5% in support.

The new contract is expected to lift pay for the average engineer to US$208,000 from US$152,000 over the life of the contract.

“Pay for techs will rise to an average of US$163,000 from US$119,000,” SPEEA said.

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