Unions leaders representing some 23,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers are urging members to reject the manufacturer's improved offer in its ongoing dispute over a new labour contract.
At a meeting of its 125-strong council, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) unanimously voted to recommend rejection of the offer.
Talks between Boeing and SPEEA resumed on Thursday after the union dismissed the manufacturer's initial offer as "inadequate".
Following a counter-proposal from SPEEA, Boeing presented a new four-year deal which its negotiators described as an "outstanding" offer.
But SPEEA calls the new offer "insulting and inadequate," saying its acceptance would involve "significant reductions to the benefits package now in place." The union is also unhappy that a bonus is missing from the company offer.
SPEEA executive director Charles Bofferding says: "Executives at Boeing got bonuses. Machinists got a 10% bonus. Why won't the company make the same offer to the technical workers?"
SPEEA was to hold a rally today to explain the offer to its members, who will be balloted with the result due on 1 December, the date the current contracts for the Engineering and Technical Units will expire.
Source: Flight Daily News
