Boeing engineers and technicians at the Everett widebody plant and across the region voted Thursday, Oct. 1, to ratify four-year contracts. The deal heads off a strike that could have shut down 777X certification work.
The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) said its professional unit ratified the deal by 67.62%, with 7,895 votes to accept and 3,780 to reject, according to the Lynnwood Times. The technical unit approved its separate contract by a narrower 53.48%, with 2,061 in favor and 1,793 against. The contracts cover about 17,000 workers, most based in the Puget Sound region.
Turnout was high. It hit 96% in the professional unit and 89% in the technical unit.
The contracts deliver a 10% guaranteed raise effective Friday, Oct. 2, followed by a 4% increase in March 2027. Wage pools of 6% are set for 2028, 2029 and 2030, with 4% guaranteed and the remaining 2% tied to performance. SPEEA said the package produces an average 32% pay increase over four years and a guaranteed minimum of 26%.
Boeing estimated average base salaries will rise from $152,000 to $208,000 for professional-unit employees and from $119,000 to $163,000 for technical-unit workers over the contract's life.
The deal also raises Boeing's automatic 401(k) contribution from 3% to 4% for more than 7,500 workers under age 40, beginning in January 2027. Boeing will transition its retirement contribution to 5% for employees hired before 2027 who reach age 50, Manufacturing Dive reported. Mandatory overtime caps drop to 96 hours per quarter for the professional unit and 112 hours for the technical unit.
Ben Nimmergut, Boeing's vice president and functional chief engineer for production engineering, said in a statement that the company is "pleased with the outcome of the vote."
The ratification ends the first full contract negotiation between Boeing and SPEEA in 14 years. Agreements reached in 2013 were extended in 2016 and 2020. Formal bargaining opened July 1.
Members had rejected Boeing's first offer on Aug. 21 by wide margins. Professional-unit workers voted it down 64.25% and technical-unit workers rejected it 71.87%. Both units then authorized a strike, with approval topping 87% in each. That first proposal capped guaranteed raises at 3%, tied to inflation.
The existing contracts were set to expire Tuesday, Oct. 6, and a walkout could have started as early as Wednesday, Oct. 7. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg warned at a September investor conference that a SPEEA strike would shut down the 777 certification program and ripple into production, Leeham News reported. The 777X is assembled at Boeing's Everett factory, with first deliveries targeted for 2027.
SPEEA members also support day-to-day engineering for 737 MAX production at Boeing's Renton facility. Boeing's most recent labor conflict, a 2024 walkout by 33,000 machinists, idled its factories for close to two months.
In a post-ratification statement on SPEEA's website, the union's negotiation team called on Boeing management to rebuild trust it said has eroded over decades. The next scheduled raise, 4%, takes effect in March 2027.
