About 17,000 Boeing engineers and technicians have rejected a new contract offer from the aircraft builder, pointing to the possibility of a strike once the current contract expires on October 6. The rejection vote also authorized the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) negotiators to initiate a strike if a new agreement is not reached by the expiration date.

No further negotiations are scheduled between Boeing and SPEEA.

Boeing’s West Coast manufacturing workers initiated a seven-week strike in September and October 2024 once their contract expired. And Boeing Defense workers staged a 14-week strike in 2025.

Reportedly, Boeing offered the engineers and technicians a four-year contract with a 29.4% compounded wage increase. This was rejected according to the union because it limited inflation-linked raises at 3%, which voters believed is insufficient compared to cost-of-living increases.

SPEEA members at Boeing comprise two separate voting units. The Professional Unit (engineers and scientists) rejected the contract by 64.3%, and authorized a strike by 87.9%. The Technical Unit (analysts/technicians) rejected the contract by 71.9%, and authorized a strike by 89.7%.

According to SPEEA, its members “deep mistrust of Boeing leaders” is reflected by their rejection of the offer.

“The source of this mistrust is rooted in individual experiences, where we have witnessed common events,” the statement continued. “SPEEA-represented jobs eroding, moving out of state or offshoring; Quality and safety taking a backseat to schedule; Engineering and technical decisions being overruled or ignored; Salaries failing to keep pace with inflation and the aerospace job market”.

The two sides have been in negotiation for a new contract since July 1. These are the first time that Boeing and SPEEA have negotiated a full contract since 2012. Union member approved contract extensions in 2016 and 2020.

"We’re disappointed our engineers and technical workforce voted no on our offer. As a result, we are now implementing our strike contingency plan and diverting the dollars we had wanted to invest in our SPEEA-represented team to ⁠prepare for a potential strike," stated Boeing vice president and chief engineer for production engineering Ben Nimmergut. "We have no choice but to implement our contingency plan. We have a responsibility to the rest of our workforce and our customers to build on our progress over the last two years and maintain our momentum.”