Boeing Reaches Labor Agreement With Engineers

November 15, 2008 4:30 p.m. EST

Seattle, WA (AHN) - Aircraft giant Boeing has reached a labor agreement with its white collar union for engineers and other technical workers, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).

The agreement includes a five-percent annual salary increase over the four years of the contract, continued participation in an employee incentive plan and improved medical benefits.

The agreement covers engineers and technical workers in Washington state, Oregon, Utah and California. The deal comes after two weeks of intensive negotiations.

If ratified by the union's membership, the deal would mean Boeing avoids a walkout following a lengthy and costly machinists' strike, according to the Seattle Times.

Union reps say the deal will likely be ratified.

"Members will be really pleased. The company showed respect and a willingness to work our issues," Dave Patzwald, chairman of the engineering part of SPEEA's negotiating team, said in a statement.