Boeing is facing the possibility of another major strike after its engineers and technical workers rejected a proposed four-year collective bargaining agreement. Members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) also authorized their negotiating teams to call industrial action if further talks fail to produce a substantially improved offer.

SPEEA represents around 17,000 Boeing employees divided into two bargaining units. The Professional Unit consists of approximately 13,000 engineers and scientists, while the Technical Unit represents around 4,000 technicians, designers, analysts and planners.

According to the official results published by SPEEA, 64.25% of Professional Unit members and 71.87% of Technical Unit members rejected the proposed agreements. Voter participation was particularly high, with 11,339 valid ballots cast in the Professional Unit and 3,909 in the Technical Unit.

Support for possible strike action was even stronger. A strike authorization was backed by 87.82% of engineers and scientists and 89.71% of technical workers. Altogether, almost 13,000 employees gave their negotiating teams the authority to call a strike if necessary.

The vote does not mean that employees will immediately walk off the job. The existing collective bargaining agreements remain in effect until October 6, 2026, meaning that a strike could begin no earlier than October 7. Boeing has said that no additional bargaining sessions are currently scheduled.

The result is particularly notable because SPEEA’s negotiating teams had previously voted unanimously to recommend acceptance of Boeing’s offer. They argued that the proposal delivered meaningful improvements in compensation, work-life balance and other employee priorities. However, the Technical Bargaining Unit Council later recommended that members reject the offer, while the Professional Bargaining Unit Council failed to reach the majority required to adopt an official recommendation.

According to the summary of the proposed agreement, Boeing offered a 3% general wage increase following ratification, a 7% salary adjustment pool in March 2027 and additional pools of 5.5% in each of the following three years. SPEEA calculated that the wage pools would compound to 29.4% over the duration of the agreement, or 31.9% when funds for promotions and out-of-sequence adjustments were included.

The proposal also included an increase in the target annual incentive payment from 5% to 7%, a one-time award of 40 restricted Boeing shares, three additional paid days off, improvements to medical and dental benefits and a more clearly defined process for approving remote work. Boeing and the union’s negotiating teams described the proposal as the largest increase in SPEEA wage pools in more than four decades.

Despite those provisions, most members concluded that the offer did not go far enough. Part of the dissatisfaction concerned the way the salary pools would be distributed, as the advertised percentages would not automatically result in an identical pay increase for every employee. The proposal’s inflation protection, which was capped at 3% annually, also drew criticism. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited by Reuters, consumer prices in the Seattle area, where most of the affected employees are based, had increased by 4.5% over the previous year.

The union says the dispute extends beyond compensation. SPEEA members continue to express deep mistrust of Boeing’s leadership based on their experiences over previous years. Among their principal concerns are the erosion of union-represented jobs, the transfer of work to other states or overseas, production schedules being prioritized over quality and safety and engineering or technical decisions being overruled or ignored. Employees also argue that their salaries have failed to keep pace with inflation and developments in the wider aerospace employment market.

“The proposed contract terms fall short for members, and negotiations with Boeing must continue,” the union said after announcing the results.

SPEEA has sent a new survey to its members to determine what an improved offer would need to include to secure their support. The survey will remain open until August 26, with the responses expected to guide the negotiating teams during the next stage of the process.

Boeing expressed disappointment following the vote and announced that it was activating its strike contingency plan. According to the company, money originally allocated to incentives linked to early ratification of the contracts will now be redirected towards preparations for a potential work stoppage.

“We don’t want a strike – no one benefits from it. A strike would negatively impact our employees, their families, our company and our community,” Boeing said on its dedicated SPEEA negotiations page.

A strike by engineers and technical specialists would not necessarily have the same immediate effect on assembly lines as a walkout by production workers. However, it could significantly affect engineering support for manufacturing, the resolution of quality issues and aircraft certification programmes. Boeing’s delayed 737-10 and 777-9 certification campaigns would be particularly exposed because both require extensive involvement from engineering personnel.

SPEEA members last went on strike in 2000, when the work stoppage lasted 40 days. Boeing’s much more recent experience of a major labour dispute came in 2024, when a seven-week strike by around 33,000 production workers brought commercial aircraft manufacturing in the US Pacific Northwest to a near standstill.