Newsstand - Boeing engineers union threatens a strike

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co.'s (BA.N) 2nd largest union said it may strike for the first time ever as early as Thursday, if the company's latest contract proposal fails.
They claim Boeing seeks unacceptable medical benefits givebacks and offers substandard wages. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace has threatened a shut down. ``A strike is a real possibility,'' said Charles Bofferding, SPEEA's executive director. ``We are very confident SPEEA could shut down production'' at Boeing Puget Sound airplane factories and other operations from Florida to California.

Boeing will present a revised contract offer after the December rejection, this Thursday. Rejected by 98 percent of SPEEA's 13,000 voting members, it doesn't look great.

The union claims representation of a total of 22,600 engineers and technical workers in 8 states. Bofferding said that if the new offer is too similar to the most recent proposal, it will immediately call a strike.

Boeing's labor spokesman Peter Conte says the company hopes union leaders allow members to vote on the next proposal before making any strike decision. He declined comment on the likelihood of a strike. ``I don't want to speculate on that. There have been quite a lot of words to that effect in past two weeks alone, which does not give me a great deal of confidence as to what the outcome will be on Thursday,'' Conte said.

Neither Conte nor Bofferding would discuss specifics, but Bofferding said the sides were relatively close on benefits issues, but NOT on pay issues.

After heated talks with the 44,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers last August, Boeing gave that union most of what it wanted, including an 11-percent pay raise over three years and 10-percent bonuses.``The IAM took from them a big bonus. Other people are saying 'what about us?','' Bofferding said. Bofferding said strong demand for technical workers related to the booming Internet-based economy gave SPEEA members better opportunities elsewhere and that many will leave Boeing for good if they strike.``For our people you'd be getting an increase in pay at a company with better prospects,'' Bofferding said.

Boeing has been steadily paring its workforce. Its payroll stood at 198,600 at the end of 1999 and is expected to fall to about 180,000 this year from the peak 238,600 in 1998.

- Boeing Co.'s second largest union said on Monday it is poised to strike on Thursday that could throttle back airplane production at the Seattle-based aerospace giant.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace expects a majority of its 13,750 voting members to reject the contract offer on Wednesday, triggering a walkout by the 22,500 engineers and technical workers it represents.

``We're putting all our efforts into planning for a strike, which is looking more and more likely,'' says SPEEA spokesman Bill Dugovich.

Some 21,000 of those represented employees and 13,000 voting members work at the Puget Sound area, where Boeing assembles all of its large jetliners except the 106-seat 717, which is assembled in Long Beach, California.

SPEEA negotiators on Jan. 13 recommended members accept a modified Boeing proposal with better pension, pay and bonus offerings and without a medical premium included in a previous proposal that the union overwhelmingly rejected. But many considered the new proposal inadequate and demanded more guaranteed money and better bonuses, Dugovich said.

``Although we were able to get them most everything they were looking for on the second go-around, concessions had to be made and members have said (the deal) is not worth those concessions,'' Dugovich said.

SPEEA Executive Director Charles Bofferding was in Washington on Monday to meet to national labor union leaders and to speak with Labor Department officials, Dugovich said. Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said the company hoped to avoid a strike but was prepared to continue operating if SPEEA does walk out, with managers taking over some technical and engineering duties.

``We have to look at our entire business stream and then prioritize work in the various locales so that we can, to the best degree possible, maintain operations in the face of a potential work stoppage,'' Conte said.

But Boeing was showing less fear of a strike by SPEEA than it did during talks last September with the 44,000-strong International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which extracted more generous concessions from the company.

``Any time you face a strike by the machinists' union, you know that probably 99.96 percent of them will unite and walk off the job,'' Conte said. ``There is a greater question about the level of participation in this potential stoppage.

Conte noted that just 62 percent of SPEEA-represented employees pay dues, which he said casts doubts on their unity. Dugovich conceded that some employees may not support a strike but predicted good participation if it came to pass.

``Union members and nonunion members are extremely upset about this. We expect a significant number of people to walk off the job at 9 a.m. Thursday,'' Dugovich said. Until now, SPEEA has only struck once, a one-day walkout during talks in 1993.

The IAM has struck Boeing twice in the last decade, most recently crippling jetliner production for 69 days in 1995.

SPEEA represents one key group of employees -- designated engineering representatives -- authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to approve and certify changes made to engineering design during production.

If they walked out, Boeing would need to locate engineers with similar certification, perhaps from management or from other Boeing facilities, said FAA spokeswoman Kirsti Dunn. "If they were to go out, that may slow down the process," Dunn said.

And, in addition:
Boeing was told to stop using Kaiser Aluminum metal by the union locked out at Kaiser for over a year.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Kaiser-Lockout-Boeing.html

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Well, now it is official- They are out on strike! http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-boeing-strik.html

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Rejected! Boeing and its engineers union have agreed now to meet with a mediator next week. Before ballots were counted, the union agreed to postpone a strike through next Tuesday while negotiators meet with a federal mediator.

The strike was urged by 51% of the engineers who voted and 62% of voting technical workers. Many are upset over a lack of bonus payments and fully guaranteed pay raises in Boeing's offers, as well as proposed medical and life-insurance provisions. Union members rejected Boeing's initial offer in December, and talks were extended til Boeing made certain compromises in a new offer Jan. 13.

Details in WSJ print(A4), http://www.wsj.com or www.dowjones.com (http://www.dowjones.com)

Well talks have broken off again, seeting the stage for a strike: http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB950073508961346720-SB950078577580081079.html (http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB950073508961346720-SB950078577580081079.html)

UPDATE:
Well they announced that they delivered their first plane since the strike began: http://dowjones.wsj.com/archive/gx.cgi/AppLogic+retrieve?id=ON-CO-20000217-000629.djml&d2hconverter=display-d2h

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Boeing has now gone 6 days without delivering a commercial jet, largely a result of a walkout by nearly 20,000 engineers and technical workers.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-boeing-strik.html

Alan Mulally, president of Boeing Co.'s commercial-airplane group, expressed concern that a week-old strike by a large majority of the aerospace company's 22,000 union-represented engineers and technical workers could eventually hobble the unit's emerging financial recovery.
http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB950576818810908588-SB950576818810908588.html (http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB950576818810908588-SB950576818810908588.html)

UPDATE:
Striking Boeing engineers will have to make the first call if they want to return to the bargaining table, company CEO Phil Condit said at a news conference with other top Boeing managers called to say Boeing's final offer was fair and that the striking white-collar employees should reconsider it. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Boeing-Strike.html

UPDATE: Finally, back to the table as new talks scheduled: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Boeing-Strike.html

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No settlement near after 19 days as tals fail:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-transport-bo.html