Sun, Jun 12, 2011
SPEEA Executive Director Proposes A New Way To Negotiate Union
Contracts
At a time when union influence in Washington is causing more
than a few headaches for Boeing, the Society of Professional
Engineering Employees in Aerospace has put forth a proposal that
would change upcoming contract negotiations.
SPEEA pontificates that it 'recognizes the need to avoid
disruption to airplane production' -- so the union representing
nearly 22,000 engineers and technical workers at The Boeing Company
is proposing the two sides use 'binding binary interest
arbitration' to resolve fiscal differences during the next round of
contract talks. Agreement to the proposal allegedly eliminates the
possibility of a strike or lockout.
Existing SPEEA contracts with Boeing expire Dec. 2, 2011 for 600
engineers in Wichita and Oct. 6, 2012 for 21,000 engineers and
technical workers across the western United States.
According to SPEEA, in binding binary interest arbitration, the
union and company create negotiation rules that submit any fiscal
disputes to an 'independent arbitrator' who, like a judge, decides
the issue. The dispute is reduced to fact-and-data-driven
arguments.
The catch? The arbitrator’s decision is final -- and
unions (in particular) occasionally have an interesting idea of
what constitutes 'Independent.'
The proposal was outlined to the union’s 150-member
governing council Saturday morning by SPEEA Executive Director Ray
Goforth. SPEEA is holding its annual convention in Seattle this
week.
“Interest-arbitration isn’t perfect, and it’s
not appropriate if either the union or the employer intend to use
raw power to gain more at the bargaining table than they could
otherwise justify to a neutral arbitrator. But if both sides intend
to be reasonable and rational, interest-arbitration is a way to
solve fiscal disputes without the collateral damage that comes from
a strike or lockout,” opines Goforth.
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