About 8,500 Boeing engineers and technicians in Everett begin voting Thursday, Sept. 24, on a revised contract that would boost average salaries by tens of thousands of dollars.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) opens electronic balloting at noon Sept. 24 and closes it at noon Oct. 1, as first reported by The Herald. The union's negotiation team is recommending members accept the deal. If members vote no, a strike could begin as early as Oct. 7.

About half of SPEEA's members work in Everett, according to union spokesman Bryan Corliss. The professional unit covers nearly 13,000 engineers and scientists. The technical unit covers about 4,000 analysts, designers and technicians.

What the offer pays

Under the revised contract, average base salary for the professional unit would climb from $152,000 to $208,000 over four years. The technical unit would go from $119,000 to $163,000.

Both targets exceed the rejected August offer. Boeing's first proposal would have brought professional-unit salaries to $197,000 and technical-unit salaries to $154,000, according to the Lynnwood Times.

The deal includes 34% in total wage funds over the contract's life, with 26% guaranteed for every represented employee. It starts with a 10% guaranteed raise in October, followed by 4% in March 2027.

Annual 6% wage-pool increases follow in 2028, 2029 and 2030. Of that, 4% is guaranteed each year and 2% is awarded at management's discretion.

"The biggest change is in compensation," Corliss said. "Compared to the first offers, these two contain more money for raises."

The package also includes revised remote-work language, overtime limits for professional-unit members, two additional vacation days, one new floating holiday and three bereavement days.

Strike backdrop

The stakes are clear. Members rejected Boeing's first offer on Aug. 21, with 64.3% of the professional unit and 71.9% of the technical unit voting no. In the same vote, 87.8% of professional-unit members and 89.7% of technical-unit members authorized a strike. Turnout hit 92%.

Current contracts expire Oct. 6.

The 2024 machinists' strike looms as context. Boeing's International Association of Machinists members walked off the job for 53 days that year before ratifying a deal with roughly 38% general wage increases over four years.

What's next

If ratified, the contract would run through Oct. 11, 2030, according to the Northwest Labor Press. SPEEA has not announced when it will release results after the Oct. 1 voting deadline.

Negotiations between Boeing and SPEEA began July 1. It was the first full contract negotiation between the two sides in 14 years.