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.

FMI: www.speea.org, www.boeing.com