Boeing and the union representing its white-collar workers are set to start contract negotiations July 1, teeing up discussions over wages, benefits and job security. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, represents about 20,000 workers at Boeing facilities and its subsidiaries in Washington, Oregon, Kansas, California and Utah. The majority of those workers ...

Demonstrators picket outside Boeing World Headquarters on Feb. 5, 2002, in Chicago, Illinois.

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Boeing and the union representing its white-collar workers are set to start contract negotiations July 1, teeing up discussions over wages, benefits and job security.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA, represents about 20,000 workers at Boeing facilities and its subsidiaries in Washington, Oregon, Kansas, California and Utah. The majority of those workers are in the Puget Sound region, the union said.

The negotiations will iron out two collective bargaining agreements for SPEEA’s largest units. The union’s professional unit represents about 13,000 engineers and scientists, while the technical unit represents about 4,000 analysts, technicians, planners and specialists.

This round of negotiations will mark the first full contract negotiations between SPEEA and Boeing in almost 14 years. SPEEA members in the professional and technical units have twice agreed to extend the 2013 collective bargaining agreements.

This time around, ahead of negotiations, the union doesn’t have a set of contract demands but has outlined bargaining priorities, including improved compensation, benefits and workplace fairness, as well as more flexible work arrangements and investments in workforce development.

At a preliminary meeting with Boeing executives on June 18, SPEEA also pressed Boeing on “how committed the company is to building for the future” in the Pacific Northwest, according to the union.

Mike Berryhill, a production systems engineer in Everett who serves on SPEEA’s negotiation team, said in a news release Tuesday that the union is preparing for contracts that meet the needs of several generations of workers, many of whom feel disillusioned with the company.

Experienced professionals are frustrated with Boeing’s recent setbacks, including two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 and a nearly harrowing panel blowout in January 2024, Berryhill said, while young professionals are finding Boeing isn’t the company they expected.

“Boeing won’t achieve any of its goals – increasing production rates, certifying new aircraft or eventually bringing a new jet to market – without a strong and motivated engineering and technical community, represented by SPEEA,” Berryhill said.

In a letter to employees Tuesday, Boeing’s Ben Nimmergut, vice president and functional chief engineer for production engineering, told SPEEA members that the company and the union have “already found several areas of common interest.”

“We’re approaching this negotiation as another opportunity to improve our culture by showing the respect we have for you and the important work you do,” Nimmergut wrote. “We’ve made good progress as a company over the last two years and it’s important we do everything we can to continue that momentum.”

SPEEA hasn’t specified a desired percentage wage increase but has said it wants to “return to market-leading compensation.”

The union is also asking for increased pay for overtime, on-call work and travel, as well as increased retirement security and company revenue sharing, according to the union’s online bargaining platform. Its list of priorities includes additional paid leave, enhanced opportunities for retraining and transferring to other Boeing jobs and a clear process for layoffs.

SPEEA members were impacted by sweeping job cuts in 2024, part of Boeing’s efforts to “reset its workforce levels to align with our financial reality,” as CEO Kelly Ortberg put it at the time. According to the union, Boeing laid off more than 400 members of SPEEA’s professional unit.

Boeing shares SPEEA’s goal to be “among market leaders” when it comes to compensation, Nimmergut told employees in his letter Tuesday. “While some companies currently offer higher base salaries, we’re committed to investing in a total pay and benefits package that is highly competitive to keep our people and attract new talent,” he wrote.

When it comes to healthcare benefits, Nimmergut told employees that Boeing has committed, ahead of the negotiations, to providing fertility benefits for SPEEA members effective Jan. 1, 2027.

During negotiations, Boeing has agreed to discuss new ways to reward high performers and to provide a quality work-life balance, Nimmergut said. When it came to flexible work arrangements, he said the company would empower managers to work with teammates as needed, but “there’s no substitute for face-to-face collaboration on site,” he said.

Lastly, Nimmergut said Boeing welcomes a conversation about artificial intelligence, adding that the company views it as a force multiplier that supports our team and the work you do.

SPEEA’s current contract for the engineering and technical units expires Oct. 6.

In September 2024, Boeing faced a weekslong strike after contract negotiations broke down with the Puget Sound region's Machinists union, which represents 33,000 blue-collar workers. The strike silenced Boeing’s Renton and Everett factories, where it builds many of its popular commercial airplanes, and threatened the company’s already precarious financial position as it struggled to recover from the panel blowout earlier that year.

The contract approved by the Machinists after a 53-day strike included a 38% general wage increase over the next four years, which compounds to roughly 43% over the life of the agreement, as well as a cash bonus and contribution to 401(k) retirement accounts.

The deal also included a commitment from Boeing to build its next new jet in the Puget Sound region, though some Machinists said that brings them little comfort when that commitment is in place only during the life of the four-year contract.