Boeing engineers, technical workers reject contract offer - CNBC

Boeing's largest white-collar union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), rejected the company's four-year contract offer, union officials said on Friday, August 21, 2026.
The union's 17,000 members also voted overwhelmingly to authorize the negotiating team to declare a strike when the current contract expires in October.
A key sticking point was the offer's inflation-linked wage increases capped at 3%, which several members said would likely leave salaries trailing inflation; the Consumer Price Index rose 4.5% over the past year in the Seattle area, where most members work.
Although Boeing's negotiating team endorsed the terms — which some members called better than expected — neither of SPEEA's two bargaining unit councils backed the deal, and the engineers and technicians vote separately despite negotiating together.
A work stoppage would further delay Boeing's certification efforts for the 737 Max 10 and 777-9 jets, both already several years behind schedule.
The rejection follows the 2024 strike by roughly 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which halted Seattle-area commercial airplane production for seven weeks; CEO Kelly Ortberg told analysts in July the company started talks early to reach an agreement supporting employees and business clarity.