Boeing's largest white-collar union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), announced Thursday that its roughly 17,000 members had approved a sweetened four-year contract, lifting the threat of a strike that could have begun October 7 and stalled certification work on two long-delayed jetliners.
The two units bargain together but vote separately: about 68% of the professional unit, representing roughly 13,000 engineers and scientists, voted in favor, as did a narrower 53% of the technical unit of about 4,000 designers, analysts and technicians. "We secured many victories that some thought were completely out of reach when this negotiation cycle started," the union said.
The deal's centerpiece is pay: a guaranteed 10% wage increase upon ratification, followed by flat 4% annual raises plus up to 2% more tied to performance. The union calculates the average member will get a 32% raise over the four-year term; the Wall Street Journal puts the figure at 34%, lifting average base salaries to about $208,000 for engineers and $163,000 for technicians.
The sweetened offer followed a bruising summer. Boeing's initial proposal tied guaranteed raises to inflation, capped at 3%, and was voted down in August — 64% against in the professional unit, 72% in the technical unit — with roughly 90% of voting members authorizing a strike. It was the first full contract negotiation between the two sides in 14 years, and the union's motto — "no nerds, no birds" — carried real weight at the table.
The averted strike is a major relief for Boeing. CEO Kelly Ortberg warned at a September investor conference: "If we did have a strike, essentially the 777 certification program shuts down until we get the engineers back." A walkout would also have disrupted plans to ramp up production and accelerate deliveries. Boeing's commercial division has not posted an annual operating profit since 2018, before the second of two 737 MAX crashes, making the recovering jet output critical to returning the business to the black. The old contracts expire October 6; a strike could have started as early as October 7.
With labor peace secured, Boeing can push ahead on 737 MAX 10 and 777X certification and its production ramp. SPEEA's last strike was in 2000 — a 40-day walkout that halted commercial-aircraft production and deliveries, one of the largest white-collar strikes in US history. This time, both sides chose to stop at the cliff's edge.