Boeing engineers split the contract negotiations to resume

Boeing 787 descends into Everett, wash. traveling with a crew from Fort Worth, Texas February 7, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin p. Casey

By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE | Wed Feb 20, 2013 2: 21 am EST

Seattle (Reuters)-the largest group of engineers working in the planemaker Boeing Co. approved the new contract offer in a vote on Tuesday, possibly paving the way for full agreement by Boeing is trying to focus its resources on fixing problems with the battery on its 787 Dreamliner.

However, members of the Union representing around 23,000 engineers also get it to call a strike, right, as a Union some leverage as the sides head back to negotiations.

According to the Seattle-based society of professional engineering employees in aerospace (SPEEA) members "professional"-that perform basic engineering duties planes Boeing narrowly voted in favor of the adoption of the Treaty, while a smaller group of members of the "technical"-which support engineers-voted to reject it. Both groups voted in favor of authorizing the Union to call a strike.

The groups negotiate together, but their contracts are separate.

Partial labour resolution proteglâsi calling is crevasse of light for Boeing, which is struggling to get to the bottom of the battery malfunctions of its 787 and needs engineers in its factories to meet its planned production ramp-up.

"There are ways to negotiate an agreement," said Ray Goforth, SPEEA Executive Director, in a statement.

"With this second rejection by technical workers at the Boeing takeaways, it's time for the company to stop the loss of resources and to improve its offer to reflect the value and contributions of technical workers lead to Boeing. In this way, we can avoid a strike and focus on fixing the problems of the 787 and restore confidence in Boeing. "

Boeing welcomes the adoption of the professional members, but said he was "deeply disappointed" that the technical staff rejected the offer and authorized a strike.

"Our goal throughout this process has been to make sure the SPEEA-represented employees are rewarded for contributions they bring to this company every day," said Ray Conner, head of Boeing commercial airplanes.

The two sides differ over the Boeing plan for defined benefit pensions axe new employees-standard procedure for most companies in the last time-and the introduction of a defined contribution retirement plan, effectively shifting more costs to employees.

"The realities of the market require us to make changes so that they can invest in new products and to win in this competitive environment that will allow us to continue to provide a solid future for our team," said Connor.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee called on both sides to settle differences after the vote.

"I spoke with representatives of Boeing and SPEEA company tonight to urge both sides to resume negotiations and lead to a resolution as soon as possible," he said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott and Eric Johnson m.; editing by Daniel Magnowski and Mark Potter)