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Executive Board Elections 2020

Position Statement Questions from candidates
1. How has your experience as a SPEEA activist prepared you for this position?
2. How have you used previous leadership positions in SPEEA to benefit our members?
3. How would you use the executive officer position for the benefit of SPEEA members?
4. How would you use the executive officer position to increase activism among our members?
5. What do you believe the Executive Board needs to focus on for the next two years, and what steps would you take to achieve this?
6. Why are you running for this position?

John Dimas Ryan Rule Joel Funfar Uğur Mehmet Köksu Tami Reichersamer Michelle Cooper Mike Shea Jimmie Mathis Shaunna Winton


2. How have you used previous leadership positions in SPEEA to benefit our members?
John Dimas
One position that was the most impactful was being a member of the Joint Workforce Committee. Joint Workforce is a committee where any SPEEA member can apply to and have conversations directly with executive leadership of The Boeing Company. It is important to have a timely venue of communications with employers where the discussion can be honest and direct. Discussion is on SPEEA population numbers across the enterprise and any questions SPEEA members may have had.

As a Council Representative, I have also been a member of the planning committee for the Everett Roundtable.

On a quarterly basis, Council Representatives, meet with members of local management, HR, and Employee Relations to discuss non-contractual issues. We have discussed several issues including:
  • Parking
  • Future tools for work
  • Status of various airplane programs on the Everett site.
Again, here is another venue where Council Representative can bring in questions from their members and many of those questions become agenda items for the next or future Roundtable meeting.

If we do not bring our issues, as a Union, to our employers, how do they know where we stand?
Ryan Rule
While serving on the Joint Compensation Committee, I discovered some missing sick leave hours and brought it forward to SPEEA, instead of stopping when Boeing claimed it was a one-off case, I requested the data for all the SPEEA members in the potentially affected area. Upon reviewing the 30-month dataset for 2300 workers I successfully reverse engineered a mistake in Boeing’s sick leave implementation. With this data, I was able to get sick leave back for nearly 300 people; some had 40 hours or more restored! I followed this until the problem was eliminated entirely (by front-loading sick leave). When holiday pay improvements for part-time employees fell through the cracks of a SPEEA process, I made it a point to track it until it could be fixed. Several months after the contract was ratified Boeing finally implemented the improvement, but I went a step beyond tracking it, I made sure that all of the people who were negatively impacted received holiday pay differences dating back to the contract effective date (including the winter break).

In my time on the negotiation team while being a northwest vice president, Boeing refused to make improvements in the Voluntary Investment Plan, claiming tax rules didn’t allow it, so I researched the regulations myself and modeled several scenarios to refute their claims and now those improvements have been applied to nearly everyone at Boeing. At the same time, negotiations communication was critical, so when I found several hundred people were not getting information due solely to a quirk of the SPEEA database I personally reached out to them while fixing the process. Now, years later, that group continues to receive regular communication directly from SPEEA.

Earlier, as a new activist, I was told by the senior leadership at the time that SPEEA’s outreach to new hires was a problem, so I did something simple, I attended several hundred new hire orientations to meet some of the new SPEEA-represented employees and talk with them briefly during my lunch hour. I still appreciate passing someone in the hallway who says “Oh, you were at my new hire orientation three years ago!” This is invariably followed by a contract question. Since they recognized me, they asked their question which might have otherwise gone unanswered. This is a reminder that some fairly simple activities can make a difference as long as the motivation is genuine.
Joel Funfar
Family Leave
Worked with other leaders and staff to find ways to address the leave issues. We have a current way to get this in Washington state using relationships built up over years to highlight Boeing’s abuse of laws. We need members involved to help us in this. We have pushed this in past negotiations and will keep pushing it.

Negotiations
Stood firm in the fight to retain our medical and other existing contractual benefits, despite employers’ efforts to cut these away. I worked to utilize the negotiation teams’ collective strength in dealing with the employer.

Council Meetings
As SPEEA Council Chairman, conducted meetings with over 130 people in multiple locations and time zones, balancing the need to administer business efficiently with the need for full debate of issues so all viewpoints were heard and being respectful of meeting length.

AIRBUS Subsidies
As Legislative & Public Affairs committee Chair, led a team of SPEEA activists and staff to investigate the Airbus subsidies issues and effects on our member’s jobs. Efforts to push this in various ways led to SPEEA & Boeing convincing the US Government to file the WTO case against the European Union.

Strike Leader
During the 2000 Strike, proudly served as a Plant 2 co-site Picketing Coordinator to ensure operations progressed smoothly. Worked with members experiencing problems during the strike and learned to speak with press reporters visiting the picket line, assuring our issues were clearly conveyed.
Uğur Mehmet Köksu
I used the power of position to build teams; solidarity, and unity. I have taken Servant Leadership roles as Area Representative and Council Representative where I could make a difference in members’ life and in our community. I served in SPEEA NW Council; Action Committee; local college Advisory Committees and College Boards. Currently I am on the SPEEA delegates in Pierce County Central Labor Cancel. Built long lasting bridges in community; realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of thousands of voices calling for change. By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

Tami Reichersamer
I have used my previous leadership positions in SPEEA to fight for the SPEEA membership. I have been a member of the Action and Communication Taskforce (ACT) preparing for rallies, making signs, and preparing routes. Everett Site Assembly (ESA) 2 year participation discussing issues that affected Everett members across the site. Bargaining Unit, Negotiation Support (BUNS) leading rallies, Banging drums, building burn barrels in case we strike. (I wished we’d struck) a member of the Diversity Committee, Membership Activities Committee (MAC), Woman’s Advocacy Committee (WAC) and a regular at the Round Table SPEEA/Boeing/HR meetings. As a SPEEA Council Representative I have stood by numerous members during Corporate Investigations. I have stood by members while they’ve received corrective action. Each time fighting for everyone’s best interest and a favorable resolution. There have been times when I’ve listened because a member just needed to talk. I have kept members apprised of the SPEEA happenings. I have volunteered many hours each year to try to make our membership have stronger visibility and to make our members feel like they have a way to truly communicate with SPEEA. I have spoken up when members needed a louder voice. I have worked very hard to make the SPEEA members lives and their families better.

Michelle Cooper
SPEEA is a member driven union, I am an advocate for every member of SPEEA. I have been able to guide members through company investigations, receiving company traffic violations, and discipline related meetings with managers. I have lead Site meetings and have sponsored membership site meetings. I was a captain during the strike of 2001. I have mentored the lesser experienced members as committee officers, as well as, some chronologically gifted members/SPEEA officers. Finally as SPEEA Council Treasurer, I authenticated and certified next fiscal year’s budget for the SPEEA Council and committees.
Let me be direct, I want to do more.
Mike Shea
As Northwest Vice President, I traveled to Washington DC to share SPEEA’s voice at a special committee of the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding FAA’s delegated certification process with Boeing. I have supported the Organizational Planning Committee’s decisions and requests to grow CREATE and organize Boeing workers in southern California. I voted in favor of expanding Wichita Technical Professional Unit’s Letter of Understanding with Spirit regarding job classifications to add Environmental Engineers/Scientists to the bargaining unit. I also voted to approve WTPU Bargaining Unit Council’s request to open contract negotiations early during 2019.

As NW VP and E-21 Council Representative since 2015 I’ve represented numerous individual SPEEA members facing potential disciplinary action or termination for job performance issues (NORA’s). I can recall only two outcomes that weren’t successful. Though I personally voted to reject the Prof contract in 2016, as a Council Representative I voted to lift the offer for a vote by members because my personal interests must be secondary to allowing our members to voice their choice for their contract terms. During 2016 I served as Vice Chairman of the Negotiation Team Nominating Committee to elect a member negotiations team to be ready in case SPEEA members chose not to accept the contract offers that were negotiated by the Executive Board.

I was a founding member and former Chairman of the SPEEA Veterans’ Committee. I have worked to advance the workplace interests of our Boeing, Spirit, and Triumph veterans and Reserve/National Guard military employees, to include support of improving pay differential for military employees who still serve periods of active duty in the U.S. military. I also represent SPEEA at the IFPTE Veterans’ Committee. I have variously served by acclamation as Secretary or Chairman of the Everett Site Assembly, ACT Committee, and NW Governing Documents Committee because those were the roles in which our committees needed me to serve.

Jimmie Mathis
As Council Representative, I have assisted our members since the 1980’s.

As the longest serving member of the Executive Board, I am always providing background and training to the Executive Board members and to assist our members.
I have a proven track record and I am dedicated to taking the time to get it done right.

During my terms on the board, we have introduced several improvements at SPEEA. These changes have improved accountability, visibility, clarity and reducing expenses. We are developing future actions that will complement and enhance these improvements.

My leadership experience includes: SPEEA Treasurer, SPEEA Secretary, SPEEA Council Officers, and Lead, Principle Lead, and Program Manager in Boeing and several positions in industry including SAE and ASTM.

I contribute my time and effort to OUR union, my experience as an activist and a commitment to hard work to be a good steward of our resources and members’ dues.
Shaunna Winton
As an Area Representative and Designated Alternate for Council Rep, I have acted as a resource to members for union information and forwarded them to the appropriate individuals as required for issues I could not address. One of the greater ways I have used my position to benefit SPEEA members was as an Ed Wells Ambassador. In this role, I was able to share with members the benefits available to them that many at the time were not aware were available. I encourage them to use these benefits, such as applying for conference grants, to further improve themselves and possibly open new future growth opportunities they did not know existed.