When asked why there was such a large and boisterous turnout, one Boeing worker said, "They have pushed us too far." Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) rejected the "last and final offer" from the Boeing Company by a 98 percent margin in December. SPEEA represents some 22,300 engineers and technical workers at Boeing.

Boeing said the original contract was a "fair and competitive" offer, and expressed disappointment with the vote. The rally, however, confirmed the membership's determination to reject company takebacks. "I've worked at Boeing for 30 years, and it's about time we finally stood up for our rights," Bob Vos, an engineer at Boeing's Renton plant told the Tacoma News-Tribune. "The company doesn't realize the depth of feeling here in SPEEA. I think today will show it to them."

On January 13, Boeing's negotiators withdrew their main take away proposals: to make these employees pay 10 percent of their medical, increased deductibles and copayments, and force them to work weekends as a normal shift, thereby avoiding paying premium overtime pay. Many SPEEA members were proud that their efforts had forced Boeing to back down. "I've never seen so much solidarity among the members," explained Mike Freeland, a mechanical engineer. According to press reports, engineers would receive raises from a "salary pool" equaling 8 percent of their total pay in the first year of the new contract, and 4 percent in each of the next two years. Technicians would get raises from a pool of 5 percent the first year, followed by 4 percent annually.

However, these pay raise amounts are not guaranteed across the board, but would be set individually by their supervisors, a sore point with many. In addition, this will allow the company to widen divisions within each work group as it arbitrarily gives some employees larger raises than others in the same classification. SPEEA's leadership has urged members to ratify the three-year pact.

Scott Breen is a member of the International Association of Machinists at Boeing.  
 
 
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