u/SPEEAmember2468

There are a lot of members who, I assume, are worried about losing the benefits that Boeing says will expire if the first offer isn’t ratified. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Boeing explicitly said the $3,000 bonus and LOU 45 would be withdrawn if the 2024 IAM offer was rejected. Boeing’s offer letter stated: “If the contract is not ratified by 11:59 PM PT on September 12, 2024, the $3,000 lump sum offer and LOU 45 are deemed withdrawn.”
• IAM called their bluff and rejected it. The next offer included a $7,000 ratification bonus. IAM rejected that offer as well, and the final accepted offer was $12,000.
• LOU 45 (to place the next new airplane in Puget Sound) also came back, although it expires with the contract in 2028, and the next new airplane probably won’t be coming anytime soon anyway.
• SPEEA leadership emphasized at yesterday's 40-88 town hall that if we're going to vote no, we all need to vote no. Give the negotiation team true leverage. Personally, I felt the momentum grow for a no vote in that town hall.
• For those of you who aren’t crazy about unions striking just to strike, that’s not what’s happening here. Saying no to an initial contract offer is not an abuse of our labor rights. Kelly Ortberg didn’t jump at Boeing’s first offer when he was considering the CEO job, and we wouldn’t want him as our CEO if he had. That would be nuts. Same principle here: a “no” vote on the first offer doesn’t mean we want to strike. It means, "Let’s get back to the table and work together to fine-tune this contract". We still have nearly two months before our contract expires.
• Every “yes” vote sets a precedent for 2030. Let’s not give Boeing the impression we’ll accept whatever they put in front of us.
• I have a colleague who went to Jamco because they offered significantly higher pay. What?! We can’t afford to lose our best engineers because a Boeing supplier is willing to pay more than Boeing.

What are some things SPEEA NTs can fight for:

• No takeaways from the first offer.
• A 6-9%+ wage increase for February 2026, which still wouldn't catch us up from the inflation from recent years.
• 401k matching at 100% of the first 8% matching the IAM benefits.
• Prof OT from time + $8.50 to time + 25% (or some reasonable variation).
• Full-time benefits for 24-hour work week starting on 2027, not 2028.
• Feel free to add other ideas in the comments.

These are all very reasonable improvements and worth pushing for if we send a clear message with a “no” vote.