Boeing, SPEEA Suspend Contract Negotiations, Will Resume in 2013

The holidays may be a bit more cheerful for Boeing employees in the Puget Sound area.

A federal mediator has suspended talks between Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SEEPA), the union representing 22,765 engineers and technical workers, until after the first of the year.

Talks have unraveled in the past two weeks and that is why Boeing requested a federal mediator be brought in.

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Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George H. Cohen issued the following statement recently:

“At the request of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, negotiations between The Boeing Company and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001 are being suspended until after the first of the year. Both sides agreed to this mediator request. In the interim, the FMCS will be in discussion with the parties to schedule resumption of negotiations.”

   
Talks will resume after the first of the year.

Hazelwood Patch reached out to Boeing to find out what a strike could do locally to the company, considering a lengthy labor unrest could slow or halt output.

Chamila Jayaweera with Boeing Co.’s Hazelwood-based Boeing Defense, Space & Security division provided a statement on situation but did not mention specifics on local impacts.

"None of the approximately 14,750 Boeing employees in the St. Louis region are represented by SPEEA," she said. "Teams from Boeing and SPEEA in the Puget Sound area continue to meet and work continues as normal under the current contract while negotiations go forward with the hope of reaching an agreement as soon as possible."

The Boeing Co., is the St. Louis area’s second-largest employer. It announced in November it would be scaling back it executive defense workforce by 10 percent.

To read more about Boeing see:

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