Boeing

The Boeing Company announced today it had reached a settlement agreement with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), which, if ratified, could end the strike that is now in its 38th day. The mediated settlement talks took place over two days in Washington, D.C. and were overseen by C. Richard Barnes, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

"The Boeing negotiating team entered these settlement talks seeking an agreement that would result in an end to the strike and a return to work for all Boeing engineering and technical employees," said Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Phil Condit. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the SPEEA bargaining committee and hope that all SPEEA members give this agreement their full consideration."

"These were tough negotiations," Condit said. "Both sides worked very hard and compromised. The result is a very positive offer to take to the SPEEA engineers and technical community that also protects the long-term competitive position of The Boeing Company."

Condit added, "Throughout the almost five months of negotiations with SPEEA and the 38 days of this strike, many employees said they were seeking respect. I believe we now have a better understanding of what is meant by that term. One day I hope we can look back on this time as a turning point - a time when we more clearly recognized the importance of listening to and seeking to understand each other. So that we don't lose sight of what we've learned, I am pledging my time and energy to a new 'working together' joint-task force that will focus on the issues impacting the engineering and technical communities."

The company will not comment on the details of the tentative agreement until after the vote by the membership, which will occur Sunday, March 19th.

C1739