Talks on hiatus: Boeing, SPEEA ‘very far apart’

  • By Michelle Dunlop Herald Writer
  • Thursday, December 6, 2012 5:24pm
  • Business

Nearly eight months after contract talks began, the Boeing Co. and the union representing engineers and technical workers are no closer to reaching an agreement.

In some respects, they’re farther apart, judging by the increased level of frustration expressed by the company and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. Late Wednesday, a federal mediator put talks on hold between Boeing and SPEEA until after the first of the year.

“It’s certainly not a positive sign,” Scott Hamilton, an analyst with Issaquah-based Leeham Co., said on Thursday. “It just tells me that the two sides are very far apart.”

Boeing had requested assistance last week from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in talks with SPEEA, which represents 22,765 Puget Sound-area workers. After observing meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday, mediators suggested Boeing and SPEEA suspend negotiations for the rest of the year. Boeing and SPEEA agreed.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Boeing declined to comment on the situation.

The union, however, spoke through action, scheduling two additional training sessions for strike picket captains this month. SPEEA held two sessions earlier this week, one in Everett and one in Tukwila.

“We’re continuing on the same track we were on” before negotiations were halted, said Bill Dugovich, SPEEA communications director.

That track includes preparing members for the possibility of a strike. It also means SPEEA leaders continue to urge members to refuse to work voluntary overtime and to engage in a “work-to-rule” campaign that means members follow Boeing procedures rather than using more efficient practices they’ve developed over time.

That could slow jet deliveries. SPEEA members not only design and test Boeing jets, they are responsible for making sure aircraft are up to standards for delivery.

The federal mediators “could see the gulf was wide on many issues,” Dugovich said. But the halt in contract talks doesn’t change things. “All the issues … are still there,” he said.

Boeing and SPEEA started negotiating back in April. As meetings continued into the early summer, union leaders were upbeat about getting a deal by Oct. 6, when the union’s existing contract was scheduled to expire. By the time Boeing presented a first offer in early September, talks had gone awry. Members overwhelmingly rejected Boeing’s initial contract Oct. 1.

Over the past two months, Boeing and SPEEA have exchanged new contract offers but have remained far apart on key issues such as wages, medical benefits and pension. Boeing has continued to stress a need to remain competitive while SPEEA says members should be rewarded for helping the company achieve record profits.

“I’m just not confident right now that a solution is in sight,” said analyst Hamilton.

Should SPEEA leaders call for a strike, a step that would require authorization by a vote of members, it would occur as Boeing is increasing jet production. And Boeing has several development projects in the works, including the 787-9, 737 MAX and 767-based tanker.

“I don’t think Chicago (Boeing corporate) would want a disruption,” Hamilton said.

However, the analyst believes, the possibility of a strike is more likely than it was a couple months ago.

During SPEEA’s only major strike, a 40-day work stoppage in 2000, Boeing’s jet deliveries dropped by 50 that year. As costly as a strike would be to Boeing, it also could have consequences for the union.

“Boeing certainly would want to move (engineering work) around more” if SPEEA struck, Hamilton said.

Under federal law, Boeing can’t move work in retaliation for a strike. The company’s decision to put 787 work in South Carolina after a 2008 strike by the local district of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers led to a federal lawsuit by the National Labor Relations Board.

Even by SPEEA’s account, the company already has been moving engineering work out of the Puget Sound region, though the company says it has enough resources here to handle new development projects.

“If I was Boeing, I’d be talking about how Washington can’t provide enough engineers,” Hamilton said.

Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454; mdunlop@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.