Sat, Mar 28, 2009
'Best And Final' Contract Shot Down Twice Before
It's done... but no one seems very
happy. On Thursday, a negotiating team with the Society of
Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) accepted
the latest contract offer from Boeing, after grudgingly conceding
victory to the planemaker.
As ANN reported, workers at Boeing's Wichita
Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) rejected a tentative contract
agreement on March 5, for the second time in the latest round of
negotiations. While voting down the deal, workers also rejected an
authorization to strike the company... likely realizing current
economic conditions make this no time to threaten to strike a
company that's already laid off workers this year.
That failure to authorize a strike also shot down any leverage
the union had to negotiate a deal, however... and gave Boeing no
incentive to move from its "best and final offer," despite the
previous rejections.
The tone of SPEEA's announcement to its membership indicates the
decision to accept the deal was painful, but necessary.
"Boeing negotiators and management did not take today's Main
Table talks as an opportunity to adjust the company's offer and
live up to their words of providing a "fair and competitive" offer
to the professional engineers that are essential to Wichita IDS,"
the union posted on its Web site Thursday.
"With no desire from Boeing to move from its hardliner stance on
contractual issues today, your WEU team made the difficult decision
to accept the current offer."
The agreement brings to end negotiations that started in
November.
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