Boeing engineers and technicians reject contract, authorize strike

Members of SPEEA, Boeing's largest union representing about 17,000 salaried engineers and technical staff, voted on August 21 to reject a four-year tentative contract, with engineers voting 64.3% against and technicians 71.9% against. Both units separately authorized a strike, by 87.9% and 89.7% respectively, if no new agreement is reached before the current contracts expire October 6, and Boeing said it is diverting funds toward its strike contingency plan.