SPEEA Tellers in the Northwest and Midwest reconfirmed Tom McCarty as SPEEA president after recounting election ballots March 16.
“Nothing changed as far as the candidates are concerned,” said Richard Duncan, chair of the Tellers.
The recount increased the ballot total by two votes. Tellers determined one of the two was invalid.
Of the 93 invalid ballots, 78 were votes cast for previous elections that arrived in the Post Office box after that deadline. Of the remaining ballots, 12 were invalid because of writing on the ballots and three arrived in envelopes that were not signed by members.
Ballots authorized
20,209
Valid Ballots
2,803
14%
Invalid Ballots
93
Candidate
Count
%
Tom McCarty
770
27%
Ryan Rule
765
27%
Larry Marrell
642
23%
Joel Funfar
626
22%
Air Force tanker - Committed to
U.S. jobs, not outsourcing
EVERETT - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell joined a press conference Friday with other members of Congress and labor leaders, including SPEEA, in showing support for experienced U.S. workers building the next Air Force refueling tanker.
“We are committed to jobs in the U.S., not outsourced to other places,” said Sen. Cantwell, D-WA, at the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 751 hall Feb. 19.
“While we’re optimistic, we’re also dedicated,” Sen. Cantwell said. “We know we have the best place in the world to build airplanes, and we want to build the tanker here.”
Sen. Cantwell joined U.S. Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) at the conference, which followed a meeting between lawmakers and labor leaders.
SPEEA President Cynthia Cole, Vice President Larry Marrell and SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth participated along with IAM District 751 President Tom Wroblewski, Washington State Labor Council President Rick Bender and others.
In a joint press release with Sen. Cantwell, SPEEA Pres. Cole noted: “We believe in the importance of an experienced engineering and technical workforce in Washington state and Kansas to design and build the next U.S. Air Force tanker.”
The Air Force was expected to announce its bid requirements within the next week.
Spirit voluntary retirement program
As a result of the Spirit Voluntary Retirement Program announced Thursday (Feb. 4), SPEEA is having union lawyers review the “release of claims” document. Our first concern is the potential removal of represented employees from the existing lawsuit against The Boeing Company. The waiver explicitly excludes this lawsuit and permits employees to continue to be a part of our lawsuit.
If any other concerns arise out of the legal or SPEEA staff review, those concerns will be addressed and communicated.
Note – The Wichita Technical and Professional Unit (WTPU) has 805 people over the age of 55 and of those, 309 are over age 60. Many of these employees have already retired from Boeing.
Haiti earthquake relief
The SPEEA Executive Board encourages members to help victims of
the earthquake by donating to the American Red Cross for
relief efforts in Haiti.
The Boeing Company recently increased its matching
contribution to $1 million for employees and retirees
who donate.
As of Jan. 21, Boeing employees donated more than
$680,000 through the “Special Appeals” program, which
will end Feb. 12. Go to Total Access/My Community Giving for details.
For other SPEEA-represented employees who want to contribute, go to www.redcross.org.
Updated - January 22, 2010
Learning Together Program Grievance accuses Boeing of violating
contracts by cutting education funds
SEATTLE – SPEEA filed an extensive and detailed formal grievance today (Friday, Jan. 22) against The Boeing Company for violating union contracts when it cut and significantly changed a negotiated program that funded employees’ continuing education.
Boeing and SPEEA started negotiating proposed changes to the Learning Together Program (LTP) in December. Without completing negotiations, Boeing unilaterally implemented the cuts and changes on Jan. 13.
“These cuts are clear violations of our collective bargaining agreement and the National Labor Relations Act,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “More than 3,300 of our members trusted Boeing to honor its promise to fund their continued education. Boeing pulled funding in a manner that breaches its own ethical standards, the company’s ‘Code of Conduct,’ and forces employees to break commitments they made to schools, family and coworkers.”
In addition to the grievance, union lawyers are preparing unfair labor practice charges against Boeing. The charges should be filed with the National Labor Relations Board in the coming week. Among the union complaints is that even before implementation, Boeing required SPEEA-represented employees to agree to the cuts and changes before gaining access to their individual education accounts.
