Approx. 113,000 White-Collar Employees Will Receive Bonuses

The healthy 2007 financial numbers reported this week by American planemaker Boeing will translate into some cold, hard cash for approximately 113,000 current and former white-collar workers throughout the company.

Engineers in the Puget Sound region can expect an average payout of around $5,100 before taxes, according to The Seattle Times. Other technical workers will see around $4,000, based on Boeing's formula for computing bonuses cited by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA).

In short, Boeing workers receive 10 days of extra pay if the company meets preset profit targets, while exceeding those goals raises the payout to a maximum of 20 days extra pay. A Boeing spokesman said workers employed for all of 2007 will receive a 15-day payout, while those employed for less time will receive a prorated amount.

As ANN reported Wednesday, Boeing reported an 84 percent increase in 2007 net income, to a record $4.1 billion, or $5.28 per share, up from $2.2 billion, or $2.85 per share, in 2006 on higher commercial airplane deliveries, strong growth in defense earnings, company-wide productivity improvements, and other charges recorded in 2006.

Production-line workers aren't eligible for the payments... and that's a sticking point for the International Association of Machinists (IAM) which represents Boeing's 'blue-collar' workers.

"It's insulting to them that they are excluded," said IAM spokeswoman Connie Kelliher.

Boeing spokesman Peter Conte notes the union rejected an offer from the planemaker that included such payouts, during contract talks in 2005.

Kelliher said that offer included concessions the union was unwilling to take... but adds the issue is certain to come up later this year, when the two sides meet once again to hash out a new contract.

"We keep pushing Boeing. It will be an issue this time," Kelliher said. The union's current contract expires in September.

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