Picket Lines Back at Boeing as Talks Falter

Boeing engineers were back on the picket lines Sunday after contract negotiations between the company and their union broke down and a federal mediator left town.

No further talks were scheduled, and engineers and technical workers promised to keep picketing until a new contract agreement is reached.

At least 17,000 workers remained on strike over the weekend. The workers walked off the job Feb. 9.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, the second-largest union at Boeing Co., said it would extend its strike after Boeing refused to add more money to previous contract offers rejected by union members.

“The Boeing Co. flat-out said it would not pay one more penny than they had offered before. They drew the line on benefits and flatly refused to pay a bonus,” union spokesman Bill Dugovich said.

Talks between Boeing and the union broke down Saturday, and C. Richard Barnes, the nation’s top federal mediator, left town shortly thereafter.

Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said Sunday, “We came to the table with what we thought were viable alternatives. We thought SPEEA’s counterproposal was not viable.”

Union negotiators had sought more guaranteed pay raises and bonuses similar to those received by the larger machinists union. Boeing has insisted on mostly selective pay increases, reductions in life insurance benefits and increased health insurance premiums for employees.

While Boeing did not offer guaranteed bonuses, it did offer employee stock options. But the engineers on the picket line--many of whom know fellow technologists in Seattle’s high-tech work force--said the options offer was nearly meaningless.

Its engineers, who earn an average of $63,000 a year, rejected Boeing’s second contract offer by 51% to 49% in early February. The union’s technical workers, who earn an average of $45,000 a year, rejected that contract by a wider margin.

Boeing has said all along that it will not add money to its offer. The two sides swapped contract proposals during the latest round of talks but never met face to face.

SPEEA contracts cover 22,600 employees in the Seattle area, Southern California and Kansas, though the union has only about 64% of those workers as members. Engineers at Boeing’s Southern California facilities have not joined the strike.

Conte confirmed that Boeing has started to hire short-term contract workers to take over engineering and technical functions until the strike is resolved. He did not know how many contractor replacements have been hired.

The company delivered three more aircraft to customers on Friday, bringing the total deliveries up to nine since the strike began. Last year, Boeing delivered 47 aircraft in the month of February.

Boeing also has acknowledged delays on new jet-fighter programs, including that for the F-22 stealth fighter, a project led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing’s entry in the competition for the lucrative Joint Strike Fighter contract.

Tim Murphy, a lead engineer with the company, has been driving to picket sites throughout the region with large urns of coffee for striking workers. Wherever he’s gone, he said, workers remain willing to strike as long as it takes.

“You know, the longer this goes on, the more we’re going to ask for when we come back to the table,” Murphy said. “We don’t need to be here. There are plenty of great jobs out there right now.”

Strikers may soon feel a financial squeeze. SPEEA workers missed their first paychecks Thursday, and must start paying for their own health insurance Wednesday.

The union had no strike fund when workers walked out, although donations and fund-raising have brought in about $88,000 so far.