Catherwood LibraryILR School

1,300 engineering workers at aerospace giant Boeing Company’s Wichita, Kansas facility approved by an overwhelming ninety-two percent yesterday, a “best and final” offer from the company tentatively agreed to by their negotiators three weeks ago (see WIT for Nov. 14, 2002), and already approved by their colleagues at Boeing’s Seattle facility. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, the members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEERA) will receive raises ranging from only one to two percent per year, but will receive guaranteed merit raises of four percent annually. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the agreement and the two-week negotiating process, which represented a vast departure from the rancorous negotiations and forty-day strike that occurred in the last round of negotiations (see WIT’s for Nov. 5 and 14, 2002).