BRIEFLY / LABOR : Boeing Engineers May Join With Larger Union

Boeing Co.’s 23,000-member engineers union said it was moving toward a link with the larger International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers just six weeks before the start of formal contract talks with the aerospace giant. The Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Assn.’s governing council approved affiliation Thursday with the 53,000-member IFPTE, which would boost its financial clout and tie it to the powerful American Federation of Labor, of which the IFPTE is an affiliate. An SPEEA-IFPTE link would require 60% approval by rank-and-file SPEEA members. The timing of that referendum is still undecided.