Violated NLRB by Promoting Non-Union Bonus, SPEEA Charges

The union representing Boeing employees announced another beef with the manufacturer on Monday

The Boeing Company violated a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) settlement agreement by promoting a program that awards cash bonuses to non-union employees but not to employees represented by a labor union, according to an unfair labor practice charge filed Friday by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001.

The charge is based on a September settlement with Boeing and SPEEA regarding the way the company promotes the Employee Incentive Plan (EIP). Created in January 2001 after technical and professional employees in Wichita organized into a new SPEEA bargaining unit, the EIP is issued only to non-union employees.

On Thursday, immediately following the release of Boeing's annual earnings, the company announced the 2004 EIP will pay the equivalent of 8 days pay to non-union employees. The announcement comes just two weeks before 3,500 employees at Boeing's Wichita plant vote on whether to keep or remove SPEEA as their union.

SPEEA filed the Unfair Labor Practice charges with the NLRB Region 19 office in Seattle.

"The timing of this latest announcement is not by accident or coincidence," said Charles Bofferding, executive director of SPEEA. "The ULP charges are filed to hold Boeing accountable to the NLRB and to employees who believed their company would stick to its agreement."

In the settlement, Boeing said that it would not "issue statements that eligibility in our bonus program known as the Employee Incentive Plan ("EIP") is limited to employees who are 'nonunion.'"

Last week's announcement of the EIP said: "More than 85,000 nonunion employees worldwide who participated in the 2003 Employee Incentive Plan will receive 8.0 days of incentive pay for contributing to company performance last year."

The statement described the payment as one that rewards a "key group of stakeholders" for their "tremendous commitment to making this company successful during a very tough year."

Last year's EIP announcement was tied to an advertising campaign that showed different Boeing employees with large purchases made possible by the bonus. The communications went to nonunion employees and the union employees who did not receive checks.

During recent contract negotiations, Boeing negotiators said they were "prohibited" from talking about the EIP, reaffirming its status as a nonunion employee benefit.

"If the EIP is a reward for employees, than all employees should receive a check," Bofferding said. "The EIP is a very divisive issue in the workplace. It hurts employee morale and it's hurting the long-term success of Boeing."

Boeing's contract with SPEEA for the Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) expires Feb. 19. The two sides start main table talks on Feb. 13 to negotiate a new three-year agreement for 3,500 employees in the WTPU.

SPEEA, IFPTE Local 2001, AFL-CIO, represents 20,000 technical and professional workers at Boeing in seven states.

FMI:  www.speea.org