Boeing Engineers Union Rejects Contract Offer
Boeing engineers union rejects contract offer
Negotiations between Boeing and SPEEA began April 19. In the weeks since then, the company and union have continued to meet on a regular basis, focusing on specific issues each week.
One SPEEA contract covers 23,000 professional engineers in Puget Sound, Portland and Ogden, Utah; the other covers technical workers in Puget Sound and Portland. The two contracts are similar in many respects but not identical.
Main issues included wage pools, medical premiums, the inflation factors, pension, standard benefit formula, alternative benefit formula, status of pension and leakage in wage pools.
1. Wage Pools and Medical Premiums
Boeing has proposed the following wage pools for the SPEEA-represented professional and technical contracts:
Profs: 4.5% in 2013, 4.0% in 2014, 4.5% in 2015 and 4.0% in 2016
Techs: 3.5% in 2013, 3.0% in 2014, 3.5% in 2015, and 3.0% in 2016
Boeing proposed medical plan premiums on all available medical plans. The Traditional Medical Plan (TMP) is currently free from premium contributions, but the Boeing corporate offer increases premium contributions to 8%. The annual impact of the 8% premium on the TMP will significantly offset the wage pools.
The majority of SPEEA-represented Profs and Techs cover their families in the TMP, work with their doctors to manage their health conditions and do not participate in third-party health-risk screenings.
The tables below show the impact of the medical premiums as a percent of base salary and assume that an individual receives the entire wage pool. The current average base salary is $109,257 for Profs and $80,539 for Techs.
| Salary Prof | Pool | Family Premium TMP | Medical Premium as % of Salary | 2013 | $114,174 | 4.50% | $- | 0.0% | 2014 | $118,741 | 4.00% | ($1,535.30) | -1.3% | 2015 | $124,084 | 4.50% | ($1,651.59) | -1.3%
Negotiations between Boeing and SPEEA began April 19. In the weeks since then, the company and union have continued to meet on a regular basis, focusing on specific issues each week.
One SPEEA contract covers 23,000 professional engineers in Puget Sound, Portland and Ogden, Utah; the other covers technical workers in Puget Sound and Portland. The two contracts are similar in many respects but not identical.
Main issues included wage pools, medical premiums, the inflation factors, pension, standard benefit formula, alternative benefit formula, status of pension and leakage in wage pools.
1. Wage Pools and Medical Premiums
Boeing has proposed the following wage pools for the SPEEA-represented professional and technical contracts:
Profs: 4.5% in 2013, 4.0% in 2014, 4.5% in 2015 and 4.0% in 2016
Techs: 3.5% in 2013, 3.0% in 2014, 3.5% in 2015, and 3.0% in 2016
Boeing proposed medical plan premiums on all available medical plans. The Traditional Medical Plan (TMP) is currently free from premium contributions, but the Boeing corporate offer increases premium contributions to 8%. The annual impact of the 8% premium on the TMP will significantly offset the wage pools.
The majority of SPEEA-represented Profs and Techs cover their families in the TMP, work with their doctors to manage their health conditions and do not participate in third-party health-risk screenings.
The tables below show the impact of the medical premiums as a percent of base salary and assume that an individual receives the entire wage pool. The current average base salary is $109,257 for Profs and $80,539 for Techs.
| Salary Prof | Pool | Family Premium TMP | Medical Premium as % of Salary | 2013 | $114,174 | 4.50% | $- | 0.0% | 2014 | $118,741 | 4.00% | ($1,535.30) | -1.3% | 2015 | $124,084 | 4.50% | ($1,651.59) | -1.3%
References: www.wikipedia.org http://www.boeing.com/speea-negotiations/ http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/historical-inflation-rates/ http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019317458_apwaboeingengineers3rdldwritethru.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-20/boeing-engineers-may-face-strike-vote-on-contract-plan http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019726575_speeaboeingxml.html http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2008340022_webmachinists02m.html